Office management, secretariat groups: Bureaucrats demand increase in salaries, perks

Bureaucrats of Office Management and Secretariat Groups on Friday protested against the government, demanding an increase in their salaries and perks in the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2019-20. The officials gathered outside the Ministry of Finance and staged a protest demonstration, urging the government to set their salaries and perks at par with the officers serving in the provinces under different cadres and officers of other groups.
The officers handed over a list of their demands to Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Economic Affairs Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, saying that their demands should be addressed in the upcoming budget. The officers also threatened to stage a pen-down strike against the government if their demands are not met.
An officer of the Office Management Group said that it is very hard for them to get by with mere Rs 55,000 monthly salary. This is the second protest by the Office Management and Secretariat Group officers in front of the Ministry of Finance.
"We will be left with no option but to stage demonstrations on a daily basis if our demands are not met in the budget," he said. The officer said that de facto Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has assured them to address their genuine demands in the budget. "All government ministers admit that we are low paid officers and promise to revise our pay scale in the budget, but they are yet to fulfil their promises," he said.