Ineligible officials added to Parliament House five month pay list

A Senate committee was informed that officials not specifically assigned to work at Parliament House were included in a list prepared

Islamabad: A Senate committee was informed that officials not specifically assigned to work at Parliament House were included in a list prepared for a special payment equal to five months’ basic salary.

The payment was meant for medical staff who performed duties at Parliament House during the 2025 Budget Session. However, the Ministry of National Health Services allegedly added the names of some officers who had not been officially deputed for that assignment.

The disclosure raised questions about how the names entered the list and whether public money could have been paid to people who did not perform the required duty. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue discussed the matter during a meeting chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla at Parliament House.

The committee directed the Health Ministry to immediately revise the list and remove all ineligible names. Members said only doctors, nurses and other medical workers who were formally assigned and actually served at Parliament House during the budget session should receive the honorarium.

An honorarium is a special payment given for additional or important duties. In this case, the proposed amount equals five months of an employee’s basic salary. For example, an eligible worker with a basic monthly salary of Rs100,000 could receive Rs500,000 under the proposal.

The committee observed that including extra names also delayed payments to the staff who genuinely worked during the budget session. It directed the ministry to prepare a corrected list so that eligible medical officials could receive their money without further delay.

The committee did not disclose how many disputed names had been added, who approved them or how much additional money could have been paid if the list had not been checked. No final finding of wrongdoing against any individual was announced during the meeting.

However, the panel’s order showed that the original list could not be accepted in its existing form. Committee members stressed that special payments from public funds must be based on clear records and verified duty rosters.

They said officers who did not perform the assigned work should not receive the same reward as staff who remained on duty at Parliament House during the demanding budget session. The Health Ministry will now compare the proposed names with official deputation orders and attendance records.

After removing the ineligible officials, the revised list is expected to be processed for early payment to the qualified medical staff. The issue has left one central question unanswered: Who placed the additional names on the list despite those officers not being officially assigned to Parliament House?