Special Allowance to Armed Forces to cost Rs 38b annually
Aftab Ahmed
A grant of Special Allowance to the Armed Forces Personnel will cost Rs 38 billion on annual basis.
The Finance Division apprised the Cabinet that the Federal Government had constituted Pay & Pension Commission to review the Pay structures of Federal and Provincial Governments.
The Commission had consulted various committees to holistically look into different aspects of salaries and allowances of government employees.
The government had formed a sub-committee to review the salary structure of the Armed Forces.
The interim recommendations of the Pay & Pension Commission for revision in the salaries of Armed Forces Personnel were awaited up till the presentation.Budget:2021-22 in the Parliament.
Read More: Summary on salary to Azmat Saeed withdrawn
The Federal Cabinet approved relief measures for Federal Government employees on 11th June 2021, for the year 2021-22,w.e.f. July 15, 2021, wherein the government had allowed Armed Forces Personnel along with civilian employees an Adhoc Relief Allowance of @10% of the basic pay.
The Chairperson, Pay & Pension Commission had now forwarded recommendations for interim relief For the Armed Forces personnel till the finalization of recommendations, in order to keep the morale of the armed forces high.
Accordingly, the finance ministry had moved a summary to the Prime Minister for the grant of Special Allowance 2021 @ 15% of the running basic pay to all the ranks of Armed Forces w.e.f. 01.07.2021.
Read More: Re-employment of Retired army officers, judges defended
In this regard, the Prime Minister has directed to place the summary before the Federal Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the proposal was to allow a Special Allowance 2021@15% of the running basic pay to all ranks of the Armed Forces w.e.f, 01.07.2021.
During the discussion, the Finance Division explained that the instant special allowance was necessary as the Armed Forces had voluntarily not received any pay raise since last two years due to the state of the economy.
Minister for Interior requested to extend this allowance to civil armed forces as well.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet considered the summary titled ‘Grant of Special Allowance 2021 to the Armed Forces Personnel’ and approved the proposal.
The Cabinet directed Minister for Finance to explore the possibility of extending the Special Allowance @ 15%of the basic pay to the Civil Armed Forces as well.
