The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would release salaries and pensions of its employees and retired staff in advance on the occasion of Eidul Azha, said a notification on Thursday.

“I am directed to invite your attention to provincial cabinet decision dated 13-04-2023 and note-4 of Rule 217 of the Federal Treasury Rules (Vol 1), which provide that if Eid-ul-Fitre, Eid-ul-Azha, Diwali and Christmas etc falls within the last ten days of the month, the salary of that month is required to be disbursed in advance to the Government Servants and Pensioners five days before the date of the festival,” it said.

Pakistan will celebrate Eid on June 29. The government has announced a three-day public holiday for the occasion of Eid.

On June 20, the caretaker government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa approved an increase of 35% in the salaries of government employees between grades 1 to 16 and an increase of 30% for employees above grade 16 in the budget for the four months of the fiscal year 2023-24.

The provincial government urged that arrangements “may be made to disburse the salaries/pension for the month of June 2023, to all the Muslim provincial government servants/pensioners in advance on June 23, 2023, positively”.

Eidul Azha is a major Islamic festival where Muslims gather for prayer, perform acts of charity and sacrifice an animal, mostly sheep.

The caretaker setup would bear an additional cost of Rs115 billion in the coming fiscal year due to the increment in salaries and pensions, Adviser to the caretaker KP chief minister Himayatullah Khan told a press conference earlier this week.

The minimum wage, Khan said, has been increased from Rs26,000 to Rs32,000 in the province.