The government has for the second time extended the tenure of a secretarial committee tasked with reviewing the recommendations of the 8th National Pay and Service Commission (NPSC).
According to a Cabinet Division circular issued yesterday, the committee’s tenure has been extended from March 15 to April 15. Earlier, its tenure was extended by one month on February 15.
Finance Ministry Senior Secretary Mahbub Ahmed, an influential member of the secretarial committee, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “We hope the review committee will submit its report by April 15.”
“It is the government’s decision when it will execute the NPSC recommendations,” he added.
The senior finance secretary said: “We have the funds to execute the recommendations but it has not yet been decided over what period of time they will come into effect.”
Last year, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the NPSC’s recommendations would be implemented from July 1.
Finance Ministry sources said implementing the proposals would cause expenditures to rise by 63.7%,requiring an additional Tk22,953 crore.
NPSC Chairman Mohammad Farashuddin 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 in January this year.
The five other members of the committee are the finance secretary, the secretary to the prime minister, the public administration secretary, the defence secretary, and the housing and public works secretary.
The NPSC submitted its proposals to the finance minister on December 21 last year, recommending the doubling of salaries at all pay grades, the allocation of plots for group housing and the introduction of bank loans with 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 pay hikes from July this year.
The 8th National Pay and Services Commission was formed in November 2013.
There are currently over 832,000 government employees and around 500,000 pensioners in the country.
