RAWALPINDI, Nov 7: The finance ministry has rejected to give a pay raise to the officer cadres of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), while the same has been granted to the junior employees.

The decision has given rise to resentment among the officers, who feel that they have been discriminated.

Explaining the situation, the officers said the scales of employees of the CAA were revised by the board of directors at a meeting held in March 2002. The issue was then forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for concurrence. However, to the surprise of many, the officer cadres were dropped while the ministry approved the new scales for junior grades. The increase was approved for pay groups 1-6, while those in groups 7-11 were ignored.

A meeting of the CAA officers held to discuss the situation arising out of the finance ministry’s decision urged the ministry to revise its “biased” decision to compensate the affected officers of the CAA, who had suffered great financial loss because of the decision.

The speakers at the meeting said the decision had created anxiety among the CAA officers throughout the country.

“We were already facing great financial crunch because of the difficult economic conditions in the country, and this decision has added to our woes,” one of the officers at the meeting said.

Another member said most of their colleagues had been anticipating to get arrears, but the rejection of increase in pays had come as a bolt from the blue for them.

While talking to this reporter, the affected officers said they had been given last pay raise in 1998, since then the cost of living had increased manifold.

They said the decision to revise the payscales was taken by a high-powered committee after thorough deliberations on the issue. Therefore, the ministry’s refusal to concur the decision, they believed, was unjustified.

They said the claim of rationalization by the ministry was untrue. Rather, they added that the decision had caused imbalance in the pay structures of the officers and staff.

A superintendent in grade six, they said, would now get salary more than the assistant manager.

The officers warned that they might take the matter to the courts if the justice was not done to them.

Meanwhile, the sources said the CAA board had decided to compensate the officers by enhancing their allowances for which an extraordinary meeting was being held.