Punjab Governor Lieutenant General Khalid Maqbool (Retd) has said that legislation regarding GP Fund amount is under process so that it could be invested through professional management.
While addressing a gathering during his visit to Accountant General Punjab office here on Wednesday, Khalid Maqbool said that the GP fund investment in viable projects could benefit the retired employees of the government. Accountant General Nemat Ullah Abid and other officers were also present on the occasion.
'The country is making economic progress while the government has increased the salaries and pension by 50-percent so that employees' economic health could be improved. The government is also making efforts for uplift of the common man and providing employment and business opportunities', Khalid maintained.
Talking about employment in public sector departments, the governor said that government had recruited 35,000 teachers in 2002, and now providing jobs to 27,000 teachers in the province. Similarly, recruitments were also being made in other government departments, he said and added that despite all these measures, social and economic problems still exist; however the government is taking steps to resolve them.
He further said that state of affairs in government departments are gradually improving and reform system is also moving towards perfection. The employees' efficiency and performance can not be improved unless their financial and economic position is not improved, he said.
Earlier, briefing the governor, Nemat Ullah Abid said that AG office is dealing with cases of 800,000 employees, 400,000 pensioners, and 1 million GP Fund holders. The office issues 1.8 million bills and 1.7 million cheques to the public sector departments. The annual income and expenditures for the year 2005-06 are estimated at Rs 322 billion and Rs 350 billion as compared to Rs 286 billion and Rs 297 billion, of the financial year 2004-05, respectively, he added.
He further said that PIFRA system has been introduced in two districts of the province ie Lahore and Faisalabad, while seven districts have been computerised. However, 26 districts are still working on manual basis. The computerised system is being commenced from April 1, 2006 in the district accounts offices Rawalpindi, Jhelum, and Gujranwala while rest of districts would be computerised by the end of 2007, he maintained.