Islamabad [Pakistan], February 20 : Hundreds of government employees held protests in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad on Wednesday, calling for the withdrawal of recently introduced pension reforms that according to them will adversely affect their financial security, The Express Tribune reported.
Protesters gathered at Secretariat Chowk and blocked both entrances to the government secretariat. Police personnel, including senior officers, were deployed there to control the situation, resulting in clashes between police and protesters.
Government employees demanded an end to what they termed as discriminatory policies, including the abolition of dual pensions and changes to the pension calculation formula. In addition, they demanded a 10 per cent rise in disability allowance.
According to the Pakistan government, the reforms implemented on January 1 will reduce financial liabilities and bring the country in line with international fiscal standards. As per the new system, pension of government employees will be calculated on the basis of an average of the past two years salaries, instead of the final salary drawn.
Authorities have argued that the new rules will help save billions of rupees annually. However, protesters have said that the reforms unfairly burden retirees who rely on government support. Protests are expected to continue as negotiations remain stalled.
Previously, the International Monetary Fund questioned about the accountability mechanism of civil servants having discrepancies in their asset declarations, as most of the government employees still remain exempted from public declaration of assets, The Express Tribune reported.
The IMF also sought to implement a risk-based verification of the information shared by the civil servants and possible penalties and carrying out probe of those officers whose assets are more than their declared sources of income. It is estimated that the assets of 25,000 civil servants' can be disclosed even after an amendment in the Civil Servants Act as part of the IMF condition for the USD 7 billion package, according to government sources, the report said.
The officers of the autonomous bodies, regulatory bodies like the the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, State Bank of Pakistan, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the provincial civil services continue to remain exempted from digitally filling the returns and public disclosure of assets, The Express Tribune reported.
The IMF delegation also held a meeting with the Establishment Division and discussed the issues regarding promotion, posting and the accountability of the civil servants serving in the basic scale of 17 to 22.The meeting was held on the same day when the federal cabinet gave nod to amendments in the Civil Servants Act of 1973.
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