RUDA CEO given lucrative pay package

ISLAMABAD: The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) will draw a monthly salary package of Rs1.5m.

The Punjab Housing, Urban Development & Public Health Engineering has issued a notification, a copy of which is available with The News, to the effect. It says in pursuance of a notification of the Services & General Administration Department (S&GAD) dated February 18, 2021, the Punjab government has settled the terms and conditions for the appointment of Imran Amin, CEO RUDA, which will take effect from that date.

He will draw a basic salary of Rs 300,000, a monthly development allowance of Rs 800,000, monthly accommodation allowance of Rs 240,000, monthly utility allowance of Rs150,000, a 1300 cc chauffeur-driven vehicle, and 300 litres of POL for local/Lahore use per month. POL for official tours will be admissible on the basis of actual consumption. He will get a travel/dearness allowance and medical facility as admissible to a Grade 22 officer and a monthly telephone facility of Rs10,000, including a cellular connection.

The Supreme Court, particularly former chief justice Saqib Nisar, had disapproved of the pay packages given to the chiefs of a number of companies established by the Punjab government under Shahbaz Sharif and criticized the then chief minister in this connection. He was of the view that while civil servants get meagre emoluments, chiefs of the companies set up by the provincial government had been awarded huge packages.

Even a well-regarded person like Prof Dr Saeed Akhtar, who had established the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) in Punjab, was harshly dealt with by the retired judge for the same reason besides other causes. Finally, the eminent professor had to quit, leaving the PKLI in a serious crisis. Ahad Cheema, who earned bail from the Lahore High Court on Wednesday, had also been condemned for getting a handsome salary package as head of a company that set up power plants with unprecedented speed.