Cabinet Approves New Pay Scale For Civil Servants And Armed Forces

The approval was given in the regular meeting of the cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, cabinet secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the new pay scale would have 20 grades. The salary of the highest grade (Grade-1) would be Taka 78,000 (fixed) and the initial basic of the lowest grade (Twentieth) is Taka 8,250. Highest salary under the current pay scale is Taka 40,000 (fixed) while the basic of lowest tier is Taka 4,250.

In a historic decision, the cabinet approved the recommendation of the pay commission to scrap the existing classification of the government employees. Under the new pay scale, position of all civil servants would be determined according to their grade. It would end the psychological impacts of classification among the government officials and employees as first and second class officials and third and fourth class employees, he said.

The Cabinet Secretary said the salary of the top civil bureaucrats like Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary would be Taka 86,000 (fixed) while salary of the Senior Secretaries would be Taka 82,000 (fixed).

Basic salary of the other grades are: Grade-2 Taka 66,000, Grade-3 Taka 56,500, Grade-4 Taka 50,000, Grade-5 Taka 43,000, Grade-6 Taka 35,500, Grade-7 Taka 29,000, Grade-8 Taka 23,000, Grade-9 Taka 22,000, Grade-10 Taka 16,000, Grade-11 Taka 12,500, Grade-12 Taka 11,300, Grade-13 Taka 11,000, Grade-14 Taka 10,200, Grade-15 Taka 9,700, Grade-16 Taka 9,300, Grade-17 Taka 9,000, Grade-18 Taka 8,800, Grade-19 Taka 8,500 and Grade-20 Taka 8,250.

The pay scale doesn't have any fixed yearly increment and efficiency bar; instead the increment would be given in a certain percentage on basic salary. Service holders from Grade 2- to Grade-6 would get 5 percent increment on their cumulative annual basic while employees of Grade-5 would get 4.5 percent increment.

Employees of Grade-3 and 4 would get 4 percent increment while officials of Grade-2 would get 3.75 percent annual increment, the cabinet secretary said adding that under the new system they would get more salary than the fixed yearly increment.

The cabinet secretary said the cabinet scrapped the timescale and selection grade as both the pay commission, secretary committee and finance division found the system discriminatory for government employees. However, the timescale and selection grade already given to the employees would not be
curtailed.

According to the new pay scale, the government employees would get New Year festival allowance in addition to their existing two festival allowances. The festival allowance would be 20 percent of the basic salary for all officials and employees.

The house rent would be given in a percentage according to the existing provision while all other allowances would be given in a fixed amount, the cabinet secretary said adding that the allowance would not be less than what the employees get now.

Under the new pay scale, the annual increment of the government officials and employees of all levels would be effective from July 1.

In the new pay scale, the civil servants would get 90 percent of their salary as pension after retirement. The new pay scale would also be applicable for the teachers and employees of the private educational institutions under monthly payment order (MPO).

However, according to the recommendation of the pay commission and endorsement of the Secretary Committee and Finance Division, the education ministry would go for an assessment on the teachers eligible for the new salary from public exchequer, Musharraf Hossain said.

The Finance Division would issue notice later about the execution of the pay scale for teachers under MPO, he added.

The cabinet secretary said the salaries of the members of the armed forces were fixed keeping similarity with the pay scale of the civil servants. Armed forces officers equivalent to the rank and status of Major General and equivalent would get salary of Grade-1. Officers with the rank and status of General and equivalent would get Taka 86,000 (fixed) and officials with the rank of Lieutenant General and equivalent would get salary of Taka 82,000.

The cabinet decided that the chiefs of three services would get same salary of Taka 86,000 (fixed), the cabinet secretary said adding the ranks of the navy and air chiefs would be upgraded according to the directives given by the prime minister in the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet secretary said the cabinet discussed with highest importance the demands and proposals of the university teachers. As it is not possible to take decisions instantly in the cabinet meeting on these issues, the cabinet has decided to send the proposals to the Cabinet Committee on Eliminating Salary Discrimination.

The cabinet also approved in principle the 'Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons Act-2015 bringing changes in some areas of the existing law. According to the amendment, a physician or surgeon of 20 years of professional background would have to qualify in the examination to be a fellow of the council.

In the new law, the council of the college like other autonomous bodies was given power to sign deal with other organizations taking government's permission. The council of the college would be constituted with one senior vice president and one vice president instead of two vice presidents.

Education Secretary Nazrul Islam Khan and Mohammad Ali Khan of Finance Division were present.