Good news for govt employees in Sindh

Karachi: The Sindh government has decided to pay advance salaries and pensions of its employees, ARY News reported.

According to reports, in a decision to facilitate the Christmas celebrations for the Christian community, the Sindh government has announced the advance payment of salaries and pensions for government employees.

The notification, issued recently, states that the payments will be made on December 18.

This move ensures that Christian employees receive their due benefits before the Christmas festivities on December 25.

The Sindh government in September 2024 amended the Civil Service Act 1973 to end provision of monthly pensions to retired employees.

According to the proposed amendment, the govt employees recruited after July 2024 will not be eligible for the provision of monthly pension after retirement.

The proposed amendment further stated that the employee and the provincial govt will contribute in Sindh Employee Benefit Scheme and after retirement, the employees will get the Golden Cheque Gratuity.

Under the scheme, the government as well as employees will contribute at a provisional rate of 12 percent and 10 percent respectively.

The move was being taken to relax the burden of pensions from the budget as numerous amount were dispatched in provision of pensions, the Sindh govt said.

Earlier, the Sindh cabinet, in its meeting at the CM House, approved the implementation of the Sindh Defined Contributory Pension Scheme 2024 starting from 1st July 2024.

The Sindh cabinet approved the insertion of a new subsection in the Section of the Sindh Civil Servant Act 1973.

According to the proposed amendment, “an individual who is appointed or regularized as a civil servant on or after the commencement of the Sindh Civil Servant (Amendment) Act, 2024, will be considered a civil servant, except for pension and gratuity.

Instead, they will participate in a Defined Contribution Pension Scheme as prescribed. In place of pension and gratuity, the civil servant will be entitled to receive the amount contributed by them, along with the contributions made by the government to their account in the mentioned fund, in the prescribed manner”.