The government may again extend the tenure of a secretarial committee tasked with reviewing the National Pay and Service Commission recommendations as it expires today.
The committee is likely to get one month more to submit its report to Finance Minister AMA Muhith. Earlier, its tenure was extended by one month on February 15.
According to a cabinet division official concerned, the committee is taking time to let the recommendations of Judicial Service Commission be executed first.
He said the National Pay Commission recommendations will not be implemented until Judicial Service Commission is implemented.
“The secretarial committee will sit on March 16 to talk about review of the National Pay Commission recommendations,” the official added.
Besides, as the number of grades has been reduced to 16 from 20 in the salary structure, amendment to service rules is required, the official said. “For this reason also, time is needed.”
Finance Ministry sources said if the government followed the National Pay and Service Commission’s salaries and allowances revision proposals, expenditures would rise by 63.7%, requiring an additional Tk22,953 crore.
The Commission Chairman Mohamand Farashuddin had earlier said financing the additional amount would not be a problem, if only 1% revenue growth could be ensured.
The six-member secretarial committee, led by Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, was formed a month ago.
The five other members of the committee are the finance secretary, secretary to the prime minister, public administration secretary, defence secretary, and housing and public works secretary.
In addition to reviewing the pay hike proposals for government employees, the committee is also looking after the recommended pay hikes for the armed forces.
The Commission submitted its proposals to the finance minister on December 21 last year, recommending doubling the salaries, plots for group housing, and introducing bank loans for single-digit interest rates for public servants.
The highest salary of Tk1 lakh was recommended for the cabinet secretary and principal secretary to the prime minister; currently their basic monthly pay is Tk45,000.
The government plans to implement the hikes from July this year. The 8th National Pay and Services Commission was formed in November 2013.
Currently, there are over 832,000 government employees and around 500,000 pensioners in the country.