Pakistan's Embassy in US delays salaries of some staffers over fund redundancies

The Pakistani Embassy in the US had run out of funds to pay salaries for at least four months to some of its employees, though the Pakistani ambassador's active engagement saved the day, reported The News citing sources.

At least five of the Pakistani embassy's locally recruited contractual employees faced delays and non-payment of their monthly wages from August onwards. One staffer out of the five affected, who had been working for the past ten years with the embassy, resigned in September owing to delays and non-payment, said The News.

The embassy had hired these unpaid local staffers on an annual contract basis. They were to work for the mission on bare-minimum salaries, which ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 dollars per person per month.

Such staffers are paid out of the Pakistan Community Welfare (PCW) fund, which is generated locally through services fees and then dispensed locally as well, the Pakistani publication reported citing sources.

Last year, the PCW fund had collapsed as the money was diverted to purchase ventilators and other medical equipment after the pandemic.

Urging the ambassador to sort the issue, the unpaid staffers had written to Pakistan's envoy. The issue was raised repeatedly with Pakistan's Foreign Office in Islamabad but the ambassador managed to secure all salaries just last week, reported The News.

( With inputs from ANI )

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