Non-payment of annual increment: BISP employees stage protest against management

Hundreds of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) employees on Tuesday staged a protest demonstration against the management for not paying them the annual increment and other service related perks and privileges. Around 400 employees of the BISP chanted slogans against the administration and the chairman Enver Baig for alleged discrimination against them. The employees urged the authorities that they should be treated as per other government employees.
One of the members of All Pakistan BISP Employees Welfare Association told Business Recorder that they have not been paid the annual increment for the last eight months. The federal government has announced 10 percent increase in salaries of all the government employees in the budget for fiscal year 2014-15. However, the BISP employees have not been paid the increase so far.
He said that all the BISP employees were also denied proper service structure under the government employees' regulations. "There is no system in place for our promotion and other perks and privileges," he said. The official said that the management was also creating hurdles in issuance of service books to them. "We are government employees and yet this discrimination is beyond comprehension," he said.
The employees even threatened to go on hunger strike if all their due demands are not met within four weeks. They said that the annual increment is given to the employees of President House, Prime Minister's Office, Senate, National Assembly and all other federal ministries. "We have been getting the annual increment each year, but this time the management is trying to deprive us of the benefit," he mentioned.
Sensing sensitivity of the issue, Chairman BISP Enver Baig held a detailed meeting with all the estranged employees and assured them to resolve their all outstanding issues including provision of the annual increment. The chairman promised to the employees that they all would get the salary for July on coming Friday while all other issues would be settled after the Eid holidays.
It may be pertinent to mention here that some 52 trainers of the BISP Waseela-e-Rozgar programme have already been protesting against the organisation for not reimbursing them 780 million rupees in lieu of their training programmes. The management has assured the trainers to pay them their genuine dues after completion of the tracer study that is expected to be completed by September 30.