KP takes lead in raising minimum wage

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Friday outpaced the other three provinces regarding the minimum wage for the labor class, proposing Rs 45,000 in its provincial budget for the upcoming financial year, ARY News reported.

Chief Minister Sohail Afridi presented the budget himself amid an uproar from the opposition benches.

In his speech, the Chief Minister stated that the provincial government has proposed a seven percent increase in both salaries and pensions for government employees.

Additionally, a 50 percent uptick has been proposed for the conveyance allowance, alongside a suggestion to increase the special conveyance allowance from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000.

Outlining further benefits for government employees, the Chief Minister added that a house requisition allowance has been proposed to resolve the residential issues of secretariat employees.

By proposing Rs 45,000 as the minimum wage for laborers, the KP government has taken the lead nationwide.

Prior to this, Pakistan’s federal government set a national minimum monthly wage of Rs 40,700, which Punjab and Balochistan followed by maintaining their minimum wage at Rs 40,000.

Meanwhile, Sindh raised its minimum wage to Rs 43,000 in its budget presented two days earlier on Wednesday.

According to budget documents obtained by ARY News, significant allocations have been proposed for the health and education sectors, alongside measures aimed at boosting tourism, environmental sustainability and provincial revenues.

A total of Rs 276.54 billion has been proposed for the health sector. Of this amount, 82 per cent is expected to be spent on ongoing schemes, while the remaining 18 per cent will be allocated to new projects. Funding has also been proposed for 93 ongoing development projects in the health sector.

The KP government expects to generate Rs150 billion in revenue from provincial resources during the new fiscal year, according to the budget documents.

For education, Rs363 billion has been proposed for primary and secondary education, while higher education is expected to receive Rs45 billion in funding.

To increase student enrolment in settled districts, the government has proposed allocating Rs500 million. An additional Rs8.5 billion has been earmarked for the provision of free textbooks in schools across the province.

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The budget also places emphasis on environmental initiatives, with a target of creating more than 50,000 employment opportunities through green projects. The government has proposed allocating 40 per cent of carbon-related revenues to local communities.

To promote tourism, more than Rs12 billion has been proposed for the sector. With support from the World Bank, the province aims to provide improved facilities to five million tourists.

Budget documents further reveal that total expenditures during the first nine months of the current fiscal year reached Rs988 billion. Of this amount, Rs431 billion was spent on salaries.

Compared with the previous financial year, salary-related expenditures are expected to rise by 13 per cent, while pension costs could increase by 17 per cent.

Meanwhile, the estimated size of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) has been revised downward to Rs444 billion.