Rationalising pay scales
THE seventh National Pay Commission (NPC) formed by the caretaker government in October last year to recommend pay structure for the employees of government, semi-government and autonomous bodies handed over its report on April 23 to Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith.
The Commission's chairman and a former finance secretary, Mir Mustafizur Rahman, told reporters that they tried to take everything into consideration while making their proposals. While proposing enhancement of the existing allowances, the Commission recommended adjustment of the salary structure with the inflation rate every year.
The finance minister said that implementation of the Commission's recommendations at a time would not be possible due to resource constraints, but the government would form an inter-ministerial committee to scrutinise them.
The seventh NPC is learnt to have taken the following into consideration: (a) the cost of living indices over the past few years and their probable course in near future; (b) the minimum physical, social and moral needs of the employees; (c) the need to attract and retain in public sector highly talented and trained, professionally and technically qualified persons; (d) the need to rationalise the scales of pay between the topmost and the lowest levels; (e) the requirement of efficiency, equity and incentives for work; (f) the overall economic condition of the people; (g) the resources of the government and public statutory bodies and enterprises, and demands thereonsuch as those on account of development planning and national security.
The Daily Star of May 11 published the Commission recommended fixed pay for grade-1 and the initial pay and the rates of annual increment for nineteen other grades. It shows that the recommended pay structure puts the highest pay (grade-1) at Tk.45,000(fixed) from Tk.23,000 (fixed). The initial pay recommended for grade-XX is Tk.4,000 from Tk.2,400. The initial pay recommended for grade-IX is Tk.12,900 from TK 6,800. This is the grade for a new entrant into a class1 post of any cadre service of the Bangladesh Civil Service. The increases in the initial pay in other grades and scales vary between 64.91 percent and 95. 59 percent.
A look into the earlier pay scales shows that in the pay scales of 1977, 1985, 1991, 1997 and 2005, the initial pay for the lowest grade was Tk.225, Tk.500, Tk.900, Tk.1,500, and Tk.2,400 respectively, while the fixed pay for the highest grade was Tk.3,000, Tk.6,000, Tk.10,000, Tk.15,000 and Tk.23,000 respectively. The ratios between the initial pay for the lowest grade and the fixed pay for the highest grade were 1: 13.33, 1:12, 1:11.11, 1:10 and 1:9. 58 respectively. It would appear from the above that the pay scales from 1977 to 2005 attempted to gradually reduce the disparity of pay between the public servants at the topmost and the lowest levels. As per recommendation of the seventh NPC, the ratio between the initial pay of the lowest scale and the fixed pay of the highest scale stands at 1:11.25.
The Daily Star's report also reveals that the finance ministry is currently examining what amount of money they could save by slashing 10 to 20 percent of the recommended salaries of each grade. The seven-member committee formed by the government this week under the chairmanship of the cabinet secretary will review the proposals of the commission and come up with its recommendations. Records show that so far no government has accepted the pay structures proposed by the earlier commissions; rather inter-ministerial committees' recommendations on pay structures have been accepted and implemented.
Fixing of salary structure of the public servants is a very difficult task. This is particularly because of their working in diverse types of organizationsregulatory, promotional and commercial. While the public servants in general complain of poor salary structure, the government refers to its resource constraints and the impact of pay hikes of public servants (who constitute a very small portion of the total population) on the general people.
Some critics say that we should do away with a centralised and uniform pay policy and structure for the public sector as a whole. They argue that commercial enterprises in the public sector might have their own pay scales. While agreeing in principle with this idea, the fifth and the sixth NPCs recommended that since many of our public sector enterprises were not making profits, the commercial establishments in the public sector would remain under national pay structure until disinvestment of loss incurring establishments was completed. The proponents of a centralised pay policy and structure argue that it helps maintain a balance in the pay structure of public servants.
Considering the need to attract and retain brilliant boys and girls in the public sector, as well as to strike a balance between the emoluments of the public sector and private corporate sector employees, there is no other way but to go for a significant and rational increase in every scale of the pay structure for the public servants. Rightsizing the public sector as a whole may help government attain this.
M. Abdul Latif Mondal is a former Secretary.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments