The government is in dilemma over the practicability of creating a permanent pay commission.
“We have found there are no permanent pay commissions anywhere in world. Most of the governments just adjust their salaries with the country’s inflation every year,” said a senior official of the implementation department of the finance division.
The official also said Finance Minister AMA Muhith was yet to decide whether there would be a permanent pay commission, as it would be big pressure on the annual budgets.
It was in his last budget speech that the finance minister announced the government’s intentions to constitute a permanent pay commission for public servants. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina recounted the promise at different occasions.
On September 12, finance minister AMA Muhith said a permanent pay commission for public servants would be appointed next month.
Nearly 1.2m public servants in addition to 470,000 teachers who receive monthly payment order will be benefited from the pay hike.
The government on October 7 issued a gazette notification providing the public servants with 20% dearness allowance as “an interim arrangement” to compensate the inflation. According to the gazette notification, the dearness allowance is effective from July 1, 2013.
The finance ministry, however, attached a ceiling for the allowance at Tk6,000 and a floor at Tk1,500.
