TDS Desk:

The interim government has decided not to announce a new pay scale for government employees ahead of the 13th national parliamentary elections, officials said, opting instead to pass the matter to the next elected administration.

Sources at the National Pay Commission said the panel will submit its final report to the government, but the recommendations are unlikely to be implemented during the interim government’s tenure due to time constraints and the upcoming election scheduled for February 12.

The Pay Commission held a lengthy meeting on Thursday, chaired by its head Zakir Ahmed Khan, a former finance secretary. Officials said the commission’s final meeting is scheduled for January 21, when recommendations for the proposed ninth national pay scale are expected to be finalised.

Sources also said that taking into account the political, financial and social crisis, the announcement of the new pay structure is going to be delayed a bit.

First, the interim government is making strong preparations for the national parliament elections in February. Therefore, considering the situation, there is no possibility of announcing the new pay structure before the elections.

However, once the Pay Commission submits its report, the current government will finalize the recommendations for a pay structure accordingly. After that, the newly elected government will implement it after coming to power. Until this new pay structure is announced and implemented, government employees are receiving dearness allowance as per the rules

Sources said that the work of determining the new pay structure (ninth pay scale) of government officials and employees is in the final stage. The final meeting of the Pay Commission is scheduled to be held on January 21. The recommendations for the new pay scale will be finalized in this meeting. Which will later be handed over to the Chief Adviser and Finance Adviser.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur told the media that there is no possibility of announcing a new pay scale before the upcoming national elections. The current interim government will not take any final decision on this matter and that is reasonable.

Meanwhile, another source in the commission said that three types of proposals were made regarding the pay ratio. 1:8, 1:10 and 1:12. Out of these, the 1:8 ratio has been finalized.

Apart from this, three proposals have been reviewed regarding the minimum salary. The matter may be finalized in the next meeting. The new salary structure has ‘1:8, 1:10, 1:12 and other options. This ratio is meant to indicate the basic salary of the lowest and highest scale. That is, if the salary of a government employee in the lowest 20th grade is one taka, then the salary of the highest grade will be 8 taka.

Three proposals have been made regarding the minimum salary. Out of these, the first proposal has set a salary scale of 21 thousand taka. The second proposal has proposed a salary scale of 17 thousand taka and the third proposal has proposed a salary scale of 16 thousand taka. The 23-member ‘National Pay Commission, 2025’ was formed on July 27 to adjust the salaries of government employees in line with inflation.

Former Finance Secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan has been appointed as the chairman of the commission. The main task of this commission is to review the salaries, allowances and other benefits and make recommendations to the government. The financial expenditure has been calculated assuming the number of family members of the employee is six. The commission will submit its recommendations within the next six months starting from the first meeting. The first meeting was held on the 14th of last month. Accordingly, the term of this commission will complete 6 months on the 14th of February.

According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the national election will be held on February 12.

However, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed told journalists, “I have asked the commission to submit the report within a specific time. In this case, the socio-economic situation of the country and inflation have been asked to be taken into account. Our plan is to announce a timely salary structure. However, preparations are also underway to hold elections in February. We will announce it when we get time. And the new government will implement it.”