Sindh govt raises utility allowances of officers

KARACHI: The Sindh government has increased the utility allowances for government officers working in provincial secretariat and assembly, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

According to details, the provincial government has increased the utility allowances of officers of BPS 1-8 from Rs4,000 to Rs6,000.

Meanwhile, the allowances of officers of BPS 9-15 have been increased from Rs6,000 to Rs9,000. Likewise, the government increased allowances of officers of BPS 16 and17 by Rs10,500 and Rs22,000 respectively.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led Sindh government froze the development budget of all districts except Karachi’s seven districts as the province suffers from heavy flooding.

Department of Planning and Development has issued a notification and informed all relevant authorities regarding the freezing of funds. The government had announced a budget of Rs332 billion for 4158 projects throughout the province.

The funds have been frozen so that the amount could be used for relief and rescue operations instead, sources said.