Islamabad:Government employees staged a protest on Constitution Avenue in the Red Zone here on Tuesday, clashing with police while trying to march towards Parliament House.
At least one protester was injured during the confrontation. Police detained several demonstrators as employees from various government departments gathered outside Parliament House to press for the acceptance of their demands ahead of the federal budget announcement.
Addressing the protesters, All Government Employees Grand Alliance chief organiser Rehman Bajwa said the sit-in outside Parliament House would continue until their demands were accepted.
He urged the government to incorporate its employees' demands into the federal budget and ensure the immediate implementation of all provisions of an agreement reached on March 10, 2025. The protest coincided with the arrival of the Federal Budget 2026-27 documents at Parliament House.
Bajwa called for the merger of all ad hoc relief allowances into the basic pay structure and the introduction of a revised pay scale for 2026. He demanded that a 100 per cent Ad Hoc Relief Allowance 2026 be granted to government employees and that workers earning less than Rs50,000 per month receive a 50 per cent salary increase.
Among other demands, he called for a 200 per cent increase in conveyance, medical and house rent allowances, withdrawal of pension reforms, and retention of the existing pension system. He also called for an additional 30 per cent Disparity Reduction Allowance to help narrow salary gaps among public-sector employees. The AGIGA leader further demanded the abolition of the 25 per cent tax slab imposed on teachers and researchers and the refund of previously deducted amounts.
