Govt revises Benevolent Fund rates for retiring employees

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has resolved to amend the policy of the Benevolent Fund for payments to government workers when they retire.

This was announced in a National Assembly’s Cabinet Secretariat Standing Committee meeting, which was chaired by Malik Abrar Ahmed. Benevolent Fund officials confirmed that the new payment structure will henceforth be based on the retiring employee’s grade.

New Payment Structure

• Grade 1 to 10: Rs. 500,000 at retirement
• Grade 11 to 16: Rs. 1,000,000 at retirement
• Grade 17 and above: Rs. 1,500,000 at retirement

The officials also disclosed that the Benevolent Fund has retained a private firm to study the financial implications of the new policy and that the firm would present a comprehensive timeline shortly.

During the meeting, PPP member Agha Rafiullah criticized the government, stating that it “waits for officers to die after retirement rather than taking care of them.”

The 90 days have been assigned to the Benevolent Fund by the standing committee to finalize its financial review of the new policy.

The briefing request about the Prime Minister’s relief package for flood-hit citizens was also covered in the session. Questions were raised by members on the role of the Power Division and how they would handle the relief distribution.

The Federal Minister for Energy was thus called by the committee to come to the next meeting to shed light on the process.