Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) Member of National Assembly (MNA), Saira Bano, has expressed reservations about the Prime Minister’s (PM) Flood Relief Fund and refused to contribute her salary to it.
She urged the federal government to equally distribute her salary between Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan and JDC Foundation Pakistan instead.
Furthermore, she wrote a protest letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, asserting that the MNAs’ salaries cannot be deducted without their consultation. She also called for providing immediate relief and rehabilitation to the flood victims as the country is going through the worst calamity.
She further emphasized in the letter that multiple welfare organizations are collecting funds for the flood victims. However, only time will tell how transparently and equitably these funds were distributed.
Moreover, she complained that the one-month salary of the MNAs was deducted for it to be donated into the hastily created relief fund without their consent, thus it is raising suspicions about its transparency and monitoring.
She maintained that it is the right of every MNA to donate their salary to organizations that they deem trustworthy.
Previously, an Assistant Session Judge from West Karachi instructed the Sindh government to reverse the decision regarding the deduction of government employees’ salaries for the relief of flood victims.
The Judge termed the move ‘unconstitutional’ in a letter to the provincial Secretary of Finance and emphasized that the lands owned by the government employees were also affected by the floods while their livelihood depended on salaries and the crops grown on their lands.
He asserted that the deductions made without employees’ approval are unconstitutional, and urged the provincial Ministry of Finance to review the decision and return their money. He notified in his letter that the employees will be forced to approach the Sindh High Court (SHC) if their money is not returned.
