Punjab government employees seek relief amid rising inflation
AGEGA Punjab says inflation has severely reduced the purchasing power of public-sector employees and is seeking relief in the next federal budget. The alliance has also demanded extension of the disparity allowance and withdrawal of pension reforms.
ISLAMABAD: Leaders of the All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA) Punjab said on Tuesday that persistently high inflation has sharply reduced the purchasing power of public-sector workers and made it harder for them to manage household expenses within existing salaries.
In a joint statement issued by AGEGA leaders under the leadership of chairman Khalid Sanghera, the alliance said the inflationary pressure was affecting not only the wider public but also government employees. The statement said public servants were finding it increasingly difficult to meet routine family expenses from limited incomes.
The alliance said provincial government employees, including those working in Punjab and other provinces, had not yet been given the 30pc disparity allowance announced in the Federal Budget 2025-26. It also alleged that changes made by the Punjab government to leave encashment rules in 2023 had reduced the benefits employees were previously entitled to receive at the time of retirement.
AGEGA further said the situation had deteriorated after pension reforms introduced on December 2, 2024. The alliance described those measures as harmful to government employees and said both retired and serving employees in Punjab were facing sizeable cuts in pension, gratuity and leave encashment-related benefits.
According to the statement, these reductions had placed many employees under financial pressure and psychological stress. The alliance urged the prime minister to include a set of relief measures for government employees in the Federal Budget 2026-27.
Among its main demands, AGEGA called for the 30pc disparity allowance announced in the Federal Budget 2025-26 to be extended to employees of all provincial governments, along with an additional 15pc increase. It also demanded withdrawal of the pension reforms introduced last year.
The alliance also sought the merger of all ad hoc relief allowances into the basic pay scale and a broad revision of the existing pay structure. In addition, it called for at least a 50pc increase in salaries and pensions in view of inflation and asked for house rent, medical and conveyance allowances to be raised by at least five times, saying these had largely remained unchanged.
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