Govt Could Take Another U-Turn on Weekly Holidays

The newly formed Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) government looks set to take another U-turn in less than a week after its formation.

Initially, it backtracked on the announcement of a 10% increase in the salaries of government employees and now it is looking to revert to a five-day official week.

Taking to Twitter, Miftah Ismail, who will be the next Finance Minister, penned that official working hours are already reduced in Ramadan and there will be many Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

This is why Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced Saturday as a working day. However, he will request the premier to reconsider this decision once the Eid holidays are over, added Miftah.

Because Ramzan ul Mubarak has fewer working hours in a day and because we will have many days of Eid holidays, PM Shehbaz Sharif decided to make Saturday a work day for federal employees, etc. But I will request him to relook at this decision post Eid. I am hopeful. https://t.co/Fyq3RzswsB

— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) April 16, 2022

Soon after assuming the office of Prime Minister, PMLN President, Shehbaz Sharif, announced to convert Saturday into a working day and increased the official working hours.

Already aggrieved by the reversal of a 10% increase in the salaries, federal government employees have rejected the six-day working week. They held a massive protest at Q-Block at Federal Secretariat against the decision earlier this week and have threatened to boycott offices in the future.