Federal Secretariat employees block Hafeez Shaikh’s car 

The government employees, in an attempt to press the government to raise their salaries, closed the gate of Q-Block at the Federal Secretariat in Islamabad as Advisor to the PM on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh tried to enter the premises, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.

They have been staging protest since February this year to plead their case of increasing the wages to the level of other federal government organisations.

As the protesters kept Sheikh outside the entrance, he held talks with them and assured them of accepting their demand after which his car was allowed to move.

After the talks, the Federal Secretariat employees postponed the decision to stage a sit-in outside the Parliament House for two days. However, the protest continued even after he left the scene.

In this connection, Rehman Bajwa – head of the employees’ core committee – said the sit-in was delayed only after the adviser to the prime minister had promised to meet their demands. They would go ahead with their plan if the government failed to act in two days, he added.

Noting they too deserve salaries equal to other federal government institutions, he said the present pay system was unacceptable to them.

Earlier in late January, the Secretaries Committee – the highest forum of bureaucracy – had recommended that the Federal Secretariat’s employees from Grade 1 to 22 should be given a 120 percent raise in salaries along with the Executive Allowance be given to the federal secretary and additional secretaries.