"40,000 posts being axed to save Rs36 billion", 17 April 2025

The Cabinet Division on Wednesday disclosed that the drive to reduce government expenditures by abolishing posts would save Rs36 billion annually and one-fifth of the savings were ensured by cutting the lowest pay grade-1 posts of gardeners, sweepers and peons. The Cabinet Division, for the first time, shared pay scale-wise details of nearly 40,000 positions that had been abolished or declared as dying posts with the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. .. there will not be new hiring on these positions and the contracts of the existing daily-wagers will not be further extended.

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The joint cabinet secretary shared scale-wise details of 39,896 posts in the public sector, which were abolished or declared as dying. Of these, 11,558 positions, which were either abolished or declared as dying, belonged to the lowest pay scale-1. It was equal to 29% of the positions being abolished. The average salary of pay scale-1 is Rs42,888 and peons, gardeners and sweepers are recruited in this scale. The committee was informed that the abolition of nearly 40,000 positions would save Rs 36.3 billion annually. However, 19% or Rs7 billion in savings were against the lowest pay scale-1.

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Senator Sherry Rehman of PPP expressed concern over the government's approach to reforms. PM Sharif last month more than doubled the size of his cabinet. "On the one hand, the government talks about cutting costs, while on the other hand, it has doubled the size of the federal cabinet," she stated.