PAKISTAN Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), a leading State-run think-tank, has come up with a report that the salaries of civil servants are higher than their private sector counterparts and it has also called for wide ranging reforms.
There is no doubt that reforms are needed in the civil service for a long time to ensure good governance and the observations made by the think tank that facilities such as transport are being misused are absolutely right.
However, as regards the disclosure that the salaries of civil servants are higher is indeed a surprising one.
The salary of grade-21 officer should not be a yardstick or a gauge to come to such a conclusion.
Then there is also a great disparity in the salaries of different public sector departments with some getting higher perks and privileges.
For instance, in the PPP era, a secretariat allowance was announced but it was given to a few departments.
Employees of other departments went to the court but they are still awaiting to get that allowance.
In fact the situation in some departments is worse and their employees are still waiting for the twenty five and ten per cent increase announced by the government earlier this year.
Salaries in institutions such as Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) used to be on higher side as they had been given special pay scales but now their employees are drawing less than other government employees.
Hence whilst preparing reports, think tanks such as PIDE which has a name and repute must analyze and review the matters holistically in order to present a clear picture.
The present government had also constituted a Pay and Pensions Commission but despite the passage of sufficient time, it has not been able to furnish its recommendations.
It must complete its work before the presentation of next budget and the focus must remain on ending disparity and bringing a uniform pay and pension structure.
Doing so will also go a long way in improving the performance of different departments.
