Daily Times

Sir: Since the federal budget for the financial year 2017-18 is going to be announced on May 26, budget-related stories are frequently being published in the newspapers, indicating 10 to 15 percent increase in salaries of serving government servants and retired employees. This is quite disappointing and least acceptable as for as the pensioners are concerned. Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has more than once stated on different occasions that the new federal budget will be pro-people and pro-poor and maximum relief will be provided to them.

This is to request the prime minister that salaries of the serving public servants and pensions of the retired government employees should at least be increased in the ratio of 20 to 25 percent to enable the pensioners to cope with increasing cost of living to some extent. The previous federal government had been increasing salaries and pensions of the serving and retired government employees every year by 20 percent. This is not all. Salaries of the in-service government servants were also substantially increased by as much as 50 percent of their basic salary ahead of the completion of tenure.

Compared to this, the present government has been increasing salaries and pensions only by 10 percent every year which is nothing more than peanuts in view of the ever-increasing cost of living and rising prices of essential articles.

Keeping in view the tax burden on the middle income salaried people as well as on the pensioners on the lower side, it will be highly appreciable of the federal government if pension of retired employees is also increased in the range of 20 to 25 percent in the new federal budget and peanuts like 10 to 15 percent as being reported.

MUHAMMAD MURTAZA ZEESHAN

Lahore