National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

[Silly_Billy]

Re: National Budget for fiscal year 2007-08

The federal budget for 2007-08 with an outlay of Rs 1.599 trillion presented in the National Assembly on Saturday contains huge subsidies and relief for the masses and the public sector entities.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=8407

Minimum wage of unskilled worker is being increased from Rs 4,000 per month to Rs 4,600 per month.

Contract employees have been made entitled to receive companies profit under the Companies Profit (Workers Participation) Act 1968. The limit of profit has been enhanced from Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000.

Workers Welfare Fund Ordinance 1971 is being amended to allow industrial workers to get medical, education, housing and death grant from Workers Welfare Fund.

Workers Welfare Fund Ordinance 1971 has been amended to increase the limit of death grant from Rs 200,000 to Rs 300,000

restriction that workers receiving more than Rs 6,000 per month were not entitled to compensation on account of disability has been removed and now all the workers regardless of their wage level would be entitled to compensation on account of disability caused during the course or as a result of performance of duty.

**Old age pension, old and new both, has been increased by 15 per cent. **

**Old pensioners (retired before 1997) will get 20 per cent raise **

**Minimum pension has been increased from Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,500 per month. **

Worker’s widow shall now get pension of her deceased husband as per entitlement.

The government also promoted the employees in BPS-5, BPS-7 and BPS-11 to BPS-7, BPS-9 and BPS-14 respectively.

A total of 87,500 federal employees will benefit from this measure.

withdrawal of customs duty from the machinery used in horticulture, furniture, marble and granite, surgical and medical instrument-business.

withdrawal of customs duty or reduction by 5% on raw material used in electrical, capital goods, paper and paperboard, chemicals, plastic and rubber industries.

withdrawal of customs duty on generators for home consumption.
Reduction in customs duty on generators for industrial consumption.

withdraw customs duty on components used in alternative energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy

zero rating is being widened to include sewing machines, bicycles and cotton seed oil.

Cable TV is a basic necessity of daily life, therefore, excise duty on cable TV is proposed to be withdrawn

Ministry of Housing and Works will immediately construct 37,000 houses for the low paid employees and give it to them on ownership basis. In phase-I, work on the construction of 5,000 units will immediately start for which land will be provided by CDA at official rate.

upgradation of basic scales in Railways by one step for the remaining 62,482 staff excluding secretarial staff. Long-standing demand of Railways employees regarding up-gradation of posts has already been accepted along with increase in their allowances.