TDS Desk:

The Ninth National Pay Commission has submitted its report to Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus three weeks ahead of the stipulated deadline.

The 23-member commission, led by its chairman Zakir Ahmed Khan, formally handed over the report on Wednesday afternoon at the state guest house Jamuna. Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, the Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Finance Secretary Khairuzzaman Mozumder, and other commission members were present at the event.

In its recommendations, the commission has proposed a 20-grade salary structure for government employees. Under the proposal, the minimum basic salary would be raised from BDT 8,250 to BDT 20,000, while the maximum basic salary would increase from BDT 78,000 to BDT 160,000.

Receiving the report, the Chief Adviser expressed satisfaction and thanked the commission members for what he described as a major task. “People have been waiting for this for a long time. From the outline, it is clear that this has been a very creative piece of work,” he said.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, the finance adviser said the next step would be to implement the recommendations. A separate committee would be formed to work out the implementation process, he added.

The commission chair said that implementing the proposals would require an estimated about BDT 1.06 trillion. At present, government expenditure for around 1.4 million public employees and about 900,000 pensioners stands at about BDT 1.31 trillion.

Among the new proposals outlined in the report are the introduction of health insurance for government employees, reforms to the pension system, reconstitution of the welfare board for government employees, formation of a service commission, rational restructuring of pay grades and scales, establishment of a committee to review allowances across government offices, and enhanced human resource development in the health and education sectors.

The government formed the 23-member Ninth National Pay Commission on July 27 last year, assigning it a six-month deadline to submit its report. The commission was constituted 12 years after the Eighth Pay Commission was formed in 2013. The original deadline for submitting the report was February 14.