KARACHI: The caretaker provincial cabinet on Monday approved a grant of additional Rs625.467 million for police and Rangers to meet the expenses for maintaining security during the Feb 8 general elections in the province.

The home department informed the cabinet that the police department had submitted a request for additional funds to meet the expenses to be incurred on maintenance of law and order during the upcoming polls.

A statement issued by the CM House said that the requisite funds had been issued for police, Rangers, traffic police and IGP office.

It said that the break-up of the required funds included Rs210.284m for feeding charges, Rs148.052m for fuel of vehicles, Rs50.486m for the hiring of vehicles, Rs116.205m for the hiring of auxiliary force, Rs90.439m for repair of transport/machinery, Rs4m for stationary and Rs6m for miscellaneous expenditures.

KWSC to get Rs3.5bn for laying dedicated water supply line from Damloti to DHA; Rs21.5bn sanctioned for payment of post-retirement benefits

After thorough discussions and deliberations, the cabinet approved Rs625.467m, of which Rs437.827m or 70 per cent would be released immediately. The remaining amount would be released on submission of reconciled and verified bills after the elections.

The cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar, was also attended by provincial ministers, Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam and other officials.

The provincial cabinet approved a grant of Rs3,5bn for Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) to execute the project of laying a dedicated water supply pipeline from Damloti to Defence Housing Authority.

The CM had early this month had approved the funds for laying a 24-inch diameter dedicated pipeline from Damloti to the salubrious parts of the city.

The cabinet also approved Rs2.5bn to provide of a dedicated water supply pipeline for SITE industrial area Karachi.

Payment of pensions

The cabinet was told that due to financial constraints, the budgetary allocations of pension payments were limited. Therefore, pending liabilities and the number of retired civil servants waiting to receive their post-retirement benefits had been continuously on the rise.

The waiting time for retired employees to receive their payments on account of commutation, gratuity and Leave Preparatory to Retirement (LPR) ranges between 12 to 18 months. Given the grievances of retired employees, the chief minister had earlier directed the finance department to hold open Katcheries in each district to redress their grievances.

The cabinet was informed that most complaints received during the open katcheries (public hearings) pertained to long waiting times in receipt of payment on account of commutation, gratuity and LPR after retirement.

At present, 19,537 retired civil servants are waiting to receive their dues amounting to Rs36.942bn, including 11,657 waiting for Rs30.568bn commutation, 733 retired employees waiting for Rs0.973bn gratuity and 7,147 retired employees waiting for Rs5.53bn for LPR after retirement as on Nov 30, 2023 in respect of all districts across the province.

The cabinet approved Rs21.558bn in the wake of the current backlog of post-retirement benefits amounting to Rs36.842bn for payment of the commuted value of pension, gratuity and leave encashment.

This includes Rs973m being 100pc of pending liabilities under gratuity, Rs5.301bn being 100pc of pending liabilities under LPR and Rs15.284bn being 50pc of pending liabilities under commutation.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2024