At a time when the government employees didn’t get any pay raise in the budget despite the alarming inflation, the PTI government showered the FIA staff with special favours, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.

And there is another interesting thing. This increase in salaries through special allowances is not from July 1, as it came into effect three months earlier (April 1) with the interior ministry’s notification issued on March 18.

The notification says the FIA allowance has been increased by 20 percent calculated on the basis of the current basic pay.

Similarly, the increase in utility allowance is 25 percent, 60 percent in investigation allowance and 50 percent in anti-organised crimes allowance.

During the budget session on June 27, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah had questioned the increase in the interior ministry budget.

Why the increase in the interior ministry budget when neither salaries nor pensions have been increased for the government employees, he asked.

Rana Sana said the PML-N government in its last budget had allocated Rs109 billion for the ministry, but the amount was increased to Rs139 last year and to Rs157 billion for the next financial year under the PTI.

He said the FIA had been assigned with the task of targeting the opposition as he raised serious questions about the increase in the interior ministry budget.