77-100pc pay hike proposed

The Pay and Services Commission has submitted a new salary structure for government employees. It recommended Tk 80,000 as highest salary and Tk 8,200 as lowest. The commission proposed 100 per cent increase in wages for employees at the very bottom of the scale and 77pc for officials at the top. The highest salary at the moment was Tk 45,000 and 4,100 the lowest. The 17-member commission, headed by former Bangladesh Bank governor Mohammad Farashuddin, submitted its recommendations to Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Thursday. Farashuddin was tight lipped about the report when emerging from the Finance Ministry. However, its secretary Ehsanul Haque said the Finance Minister received the recommendations. A reliable source inside the commission said it proposed that employees at the very bottom be paid Tk 8,200 instead of Tk 4,100. For officials at the top of the scale, it recommended Tk 80,000 instead of Tk 45,000. The report was finalised earlier this month but its submission was delayed since the finance minister was in Singapore for his son’s treatment. He returned on Thursday. Before leaving Dhaka for Singapore, Muhith had told reporters that he would go through the commission’s report as soon as he returns. The commission has reduced the levels in the salary structure from 20 to 16, the source said. The proposals were planned in view of the expenses needed to support a 6-member family, with education and health fees for 2 children. The government set up the commission on Nov 24 last year for its 1.3 million employees. It was told to submit its report in 6 months but the time was later extended by 6 months. The finance minister in his budget speech said the commission will work to recommend a salary scale that will ensure standard living for government employees in line with prices for goods and services, according to a news agency.