Several officers announce protests outside Pakistan Secretariat from Feb 6 over allowance

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 1 (ANI): In protest of what they claimed was discrimination in the awarding of the executive allowance, officers from various groups at the Pakistan Secretariat declared on Tuesday that they will observe a pen-down strike beginning on February 6, Dawn reported on Wednesday.
At a meeting of the officials conducted in the Planning Commission, it was decided to support the strike.
The participants believed that an intentional attempt had been made to postpone sending out a notification.
"The finance secretary had informed senior officers that the prime minister had already granted approval that all officers would be given 150 per cent of their basic salary as the executive allowance," said a senior officer while talking to Dawn.
The allowance, equal to 150 per cent of the basic pay, was approved by the previous finance minister, Mifta Ismail, to be paid to former cadre officers and members of all groups as of the beginning of the current fiscal year, and now all of it is in doldrums regarding which the officers have decided to announce a protest, if the demands are not met.
According to Dawn, there are 1,800 officers in the secretariat in grades 17 to 22, 1,200 of them have received raises, leaving only 600 of them. Protests against discrimination have been staged as a result.
Recently, the officers have expressed their worries to the finance minister, stating that they will start their full-time pen-down strike on February 6 if the notification was not granted by February 3. (ANI)