‘Fund shortage issue to be resolved soon to pay KMC staff salaries’

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Administrator Iftikhar Ali Shallwani said on Monday the issue pertaining to a shortage of funds for releasing salaries and pensions of the corporation’s employees would be resolved soon.

The Sindh government was requested to increase funds for the KMC and hopefully the request would be accepted, he said, adding that departmental heads would be replaced if they failed to achieve revenue targets.

The meeting for review revenue targets would be held on a weekly basis, the administrator said while addressing officers of the finance department at the KMC office.

Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Syed Saif ur Rehman, finance adviser Afaq Saeed, senior finance director Riaz Khatri, budget director Mehmood Baig, administration finance director Nasir Mehmood and other officials also attended the meeting.

According to a press statement from the corporation, Shallwani was informed that the KMC had been facing a shortage of funds to release the salaries and pensions every month, and pension dues.

The release of lesser amounts from the provincial government in s monthly grant and shortfall in revenue targets were the main reason for the shortage of funds, the administrator was told.

The officials told Shallwani that the KMC got Rs587.705 million from the Sindh government in the head of a matching grant of the Octroi Zila Tax (OZT) and Grant in Aid Salary out of which Rs157.705 million were for OZT and Rs430 million were Grant in Aid for salaries.

He was told that Rs693.235 million were required monthly for the payment of KMC and district municipal corporations’ employees’ salaries, and the KMC itself was giving amounts to meet the required value to release the salaries.

In the meeting, it was said that pension expenses of the KMC and DMCs’ retired employees was Rs306.489 million and a total of Rs330 million had to be paid to retired employees. The total shortfall faced by the KMC in releasing salaries and pensions each month was Rs260.198 million.

Shallwani was informed that Rs3,430.964 million were still to be paid to 5,735 claimants who were either retired employees of the KMC, the DMCs and the District Council or were families of deceased employees.

The retired employees and their families have been seeking the amounts since 2015-16 till date. The KMC also faces a shortage of resources mainly because of a shortage of funds. A total of Rs451.857 million are to be paid to employees in the head of fire risk allowance, Rs255.713 for supplementary salaries, including leave encashment, and Rs447.904 million to be given to employees after a 15 per cent increment in salaries.

Shallwani said that it was essential to make the finance department effective to put any organisation on the path of development. He said the payment of salaries and pensions on time were amongst his priorities and issues in this regard would be resolved soon.