Sindh decides to amend Civil Service Act 1973 to end pension

KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to amend Civil Service Act 1973 to end provision of monthly pensions to retired employees, ARY News reported on Friday.

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 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

The move is being taken to relax the burden of pensions from the budget as a large number of amount is being 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.

Read more: Pakistan likely to ‘end’ lump sum pension increase

The 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”.