The Federal Minister for Planning, Ahsan Iqbal, and the Federal Minister for Information, Marriyum Aurangzeb, have requested the government to provide a 150 percent Executive Allowance to economists and the technical cadre of the Ministry for Planning and officers of the Ministry of Information working in grades 17-22.
Both the ministers have written separate letters to Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and the Minister for Finance, Miftah Ismail, seeking an Executive Allowance for the officers who were previously not granted an allowance by the Ministry of Finance in its notification.
The Federal Secretaries of both ministries have also officially written to the Finance Secretary to request the provision of the allowance.
The Federal Minister for Planning, Ahsan Iqbal, also apprised the premier of a serious and urgent matter that is affecting the spirit and dignity of the officers of the Economists Group and technical cadre in the Ministry of the Planning Development & Special Initiatives.
His letter read, “The officers of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives in Economic Ministries at the Federal Secretariat have been excluded from Executive Allowance (EA) notified by Finance Division. The EA is discriminatory and against the principles of equity and fairness. It may be noted that the Federal Cabinet approves the Executive Allowance for the Federal Secretariat, President Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office, and ICT field”.
Minister Iqbal continued in his letter that “the memorandum issued by the Ministry of Finance on July 19, 2022, about the admissibility of the Executive Allowance excludes the officers of Economists Group and Technical Cadre working in Planning Commission and other Economic Ministries, which constitute the Federal Secretariat in accordance with the Schedule 4 of the Rules of Business 1973. As such, it has distorted the cabinet’s decision of June 10, 2022, and making it a discriminatory measure, which was not in accordance with the intention of the cabinet while taking the decision about the Executive Allowance”.
“In order of competence and professionalism of the officer are second to none. Considering the important role in the preparation of long-term plans, socio-economic development, and economic growth of the country the Ministry of Planning takes a leading role in the evaluation of development projects, PSDP formulation, and monitoring. Thus, excluding the officers of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives from Executive Allowance has demoralized the officers. Further, it will become difficult for the ministry to attract and retain qualified and competent officers,” he reasoned.
The minister stressed, “I believe that we must support and encourage this human resource, particularly as they are the architect of national economic policies, growth, and prosperity.”
He also requested the PM’s ‘urgent and kind intercession’ for the revision of the Finance Division Memorandum of 19 July 2022 on the Executive Allowance to include all the officers of the Economists Group and Technical cadre.
