ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) offered a voluntary ‘golden handshake’ (GHS) to about 100 permanent employees in line with the PMDC Act 2022 as the government attempts to reduce pension-related expenses.

A senior officer of the council said in light of the PMDC Act, the government adopted a policy to reduce the pension expenditure by offering employees less than 55 years old a severance package in return for their early retirement.

In the exercise of the power conferred by Section 9 of the PMDC Act 2022, the competent authority has been pleased to announce the GHS to its regular employees having less than 55 years of age and service of 10 years or more as of June 30, 2023.

Employees entitled to double commutation package, 12-month leave encashment among other perks

It stated that the employees who will accept the GHS will get double commutation of their pension as a part of the final settlement. However, they will not be paid pensions on a monthly basis.

Moreover, the employees will be entitled to get leave encashment of 12 months and a payment equivalent to a one-year salary will be paid as the PMDC welfare grant.

The general provident fund will be self-subscription plus PMDC contribution and interest after adjustment of the outstanding advance amount.

A senior officer of PMDC, wishing not to be quoted, said that it was the requirement of the PMDC Act to offer GHS to the employees. “In the past Pakistan Medical Commission announced compulsory GHS for the employees and give a nominal amount of Rs2.6 million to those who were in a special pay scale,” he said.

“However the current GHS is voluntary. Employees, on average, may get Rs10 million but, as the age limit has been reduced to 55 years, a majority of employees may not accept it,” he said.

It is worth mentioning that in January this year, the PMC finally ceased to exist after President Dr Arif Alvi okayed the PMDC Bill 2022, making it an Act of Parliament. In December last year, parliament passed the PMDC bill in a joint sitting and sent it to President Alvi to get his nod.

It is worth mentioning that earlier on April 11, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had appointed eight members of the PMDC to complete the 15-member body of the council. According to the notification issued at the time, the five members were nominated under the category of medical practitioners, namely Prof Amjad Siraj Memon, Prof Rizwan Taj, Muhammad Zubair Khan, Dr Mahmud Aurangzeb, and Prof Dr Tehmina Asad. Jawad Amin Khan was appointed in the category of philanthropist, while Chaudhry Sultan Mansoor and Noorul Haque were appointed in the legal and chartered accountant categories, respectively.

The remaining seven commission members include the surgeon general, NHS secretary, health secretaries of the four provinces and one member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan. Later Rizwan Taj, a psychiatrist by profession, had become president of the PMDC.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2023