Staff Reporter:
The Ninth National Pay Commission yesterday submitted its report to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna.
The 23-member commission, led by its Chairman Zakir Ahmed Khan, presented the report this afternoon, three weeks ahead of its deadline, Chief Adviser’s Press Wing said.
Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Dr Anisuzzaman Chow-dhury, Finance Secretary Dr Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder and all full-time and part-time mem-bers of the commission were present.
The government formed the 23-member Ninth National Pay Commission on July 27 last year and set a six-month deadline for submitting its report.
This commission was constituted after a long gap of 12 years following the formation of the Eighth Pay Commission in 2013. The final deadline for submission of the report was February 14. The commission prepared its report by spending only 18 percent of its allocated budget.
After receiving the report, the Chief Adviser expressed satisfaction and thanked the members of the commission.
On the occasion, he said, “This is a very big task. People have been waiting for it for a long time. From the outline, I realize that this is a very creative work”.
Speaking on the occasion, the Commission chief said that over the past decade there have been significant changes in almost all economic indicators at both global and national levels.
In particular, the prices of essential commodities have increased manifold, he said, adding, due to the absence of a timely and appropriate pay structure, meeting the cost of living has gradually be-come difficult for government employees.
In this context, Zakir Ahmed said, the commission worked with clearly defined Terms of Refer-ence to review existing pay, allowances, and other benefits and to formulate necessary recommen-dations.
Following the defined Terms of Reference and with the aim of preparing timely and realistic rec-ommendations, he said, the pay commission held 184 meetings both online and offline with vari-ous stakeholders and received opinions and proposals from 2,552 individuals.
In addition, extensive consultations were held through discussion meetings with representatives of various associations and organizations, the commission head added.
Another important responsibility of the commission was to determine the necessary financial re-sources for implementing the proposed pay structure and to review its feasibility, said Zakir Ah-med.
On the occasion, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said that implementation of the proposals is now the next task. For this purpose, a committee will be formed to work on the implementation process, he added.
The commission recommended a 20-grade pay structure for government employees. It proposed increasing the minimum pay grade from Taka 8,250 to Taka 20,000 and the maximum pay grade from Taka 78,000 to Taka 160,000.
The commission chief said that Taka 1,06,000 crore will be required to implement the proposals. At present, the government’s expenditure for 14 lakh government employees and 9 lakh pensioners amounts to Taka 1,31,000 crore.
The new proposals of the commission included the introduction of health insurance for govern-ment employees, reform of the pension system, rearranging the Government Employees Welfare Board, formation of a Service Commission, rational restructuring of pay grades and scales, for-mation of a committee to review allowances in government offices, and human resource develop-ment in the health and education sectors.
If an employee has a differently-abled child, the Pay Commission recommends a monthly allow-ance of Taka 2,000. However, in all cases a maximum of two children will receive this benefit.
The report further stated that while the current provisions of Tiffin Allowance continue, the com-mission has recommended an increase in the rate of allowance.
The current monthly Tiffin Allowance for employees in grades 11 to 20 may be increased to Taka 1,000 from Taka 200.
