National Pay Scale of Government Employee:

The government has approved a new pay scale for its employees with a highest basic pay of Tk 78,000 and a minimum of Tk 8,250, allowing an across-the-grade hike ranging from 91 to 101 percent.

An officer who joins government service by clearing the BCS examinations will now get a basic pay of Tk 22,000, to which will be added house rent in accordance with the area of residence and medical. The earlier basic was Tk 11,000. The basic pay for officers and other employees took retroactive effect from July 1, 2015, while the allowances was paid from July 1, 2016.

A Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, endorsed the eighth national pay scale. New pay scales had been recommended for the armed forces also. The new structure had dropped the class categories, selection grade, and time scale. The annual increment will be a percentage of the basic pay. The government employees will be given two festival bonuses as well as 20 percent of the basic as Bangla New Year allowance.

Although the recommended highest basic pay is Tk 78,000, the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister get a basic of Tk 86,000, while senior secretaries entitled to Tk 82,000. Their earlier pay was Tk 45,000 and Tk 42,000, respectively. Officers of these grades have fixed salaries, which means they are not entitled to any annual increments.

The new pay scale imposed a burden of over Tk 159.04 billion on the government in the year of 2015. Next year (2016), it will be more than Tk 238.28 billion. Revenue inflow has risen compared with what it was last year. It is expected to increase further next year. So, it will not be difficult for the government to shoulder this additional burden.

The current pension rate, which is 80 percent of the basic, has been increased to 90 percent. The Seventh Pay Scale, introduced on July 1, 2009, had awarded a highest basic of Tk 40,000 and a minimum of Tk 4,100. 

In addition, government employees posted in cities have been getting 20 percent of their basic salary as dearness allowance. This sum will be withdrawn once the new scale comes into effect. Mohammad Farasuddin, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, made the recommendations of the Eighth Pay Commission. It had recommended a minimum scale of Tk 8,200 and a highest of Tk 80,000.

A secretaries’ committee reviewed the recommendations and revised the basics to a minimum of Tk 8,250 and a highest of Tk 75,000. The recommendation of the secretaries was further reviewed by the finance ministry, with the final figures emerging as Tk 8,250 at the bottom and Tk 78,000 at the top.

The Pay Commission had recommended a 16-grade structure, but a 20-grade structure, recommended by the secretaries’ committee, was finally approved.