Govt Pay Scale Widens Journalists’ Survival Crisis 

As ordinary people struggle to cope with the pressure of inflation, economists fear that the decision to increase the salaries of government officials and employees by 142 per cent will put further pressure on the market. Yet the weight of inflation is being borne most heavily by private-sector employees, among whom journalists remain in an especially difficult position.

Recently, following the recommendations of the Ninth National Pay Commission, the basic salaries of government employees were increased by 100 to 142 per cent. As a result, the minimum basic salary has risen from Tk 8,250 to Tk 20,000, while the maximum has increased from Tk 78,000 to Tk 156,000. Although the increase will benefit around 1.5 million government employees and 925,000 retired employees, this is a community comprising less than 2 per cent of the country’s total population. Economists have warned that the move could fuel further inflation, as higher government salaries would increase the flow of money into the market, eventually driving up demand for goods.

While implementing pay scales for people belonging to the three pillars of the state - the legislature, the executive and the judiciary - the government should also ensure the rights of those belonging to the fourth pillar, the media. Otherwise, the state may appear distorted, with three healthy pillars standing beside a vulnerable one, and risk stumbling at every step.

The situation of journalists in Bangladesh is no less distressing. Although the Ninth Wage Board was gazetted in 2019, nearly a decade later it has still not been properly implemented in most media houses across the country. The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and the Dhaka Union of Journalists have repeatedly alleged that media owners have avoided implementing the Wage Board on various legal and administrative grounds.

Under the law, media houses are required to pay at least 60 per cent of their employees according to the Wage Board. Although there is also a provision for providing fair salaries to the remaining employees based on prevailing market rates, neither provision is properly followed in practice. Media houses enjoy various benefits, including government advertisements and VAT exemptions, through the implementation of the Wage Board, yet fail to fulfil their responsibility of ensuring fair wages for their employees. How many journalists actually receive salaries in accordance with the Wage Board? Perhaps only 10 to 12 per cent. For the vast majority, a fair wage remains little more than a distant dream.

As most journalists remain outside the scope of the Wage Board, many have continued working for years on the same salary. They receive no pension, gratuity or medical benefits after retirement. After spending the best years of their lives gathering news, many journalists ultimately find themselves facing a life of frustration and dependence on others.

It is the responsibility of media owners to comply with the law and ensure fair salaries, relevant facilities and security for their employees. The government should impose stricter measures, including withholding government advertisements or cancelling licences where a media house fails to pay its journalists their deserved salary.

The largest proportion of journalists in almost every media house work on a contractual basis, but there is no standardised contract. Even after serving for 10 years, many journalists receive a humiliating salary of below Tk 25,000, sometimes less than the salary of a media house editor’s driver.

Many journalists cannot afford to educate their children, pay house rent regularly or escape humiliation. At times, journalists who take their own lives after failing to put bread on the table for their families also make the headlines.

While implementing pay scales for people belonging to the three pillars of the state - the legislature, the executive and the judiciary - the government should also ensure the rights of those belonging to the fourth pillar, the media. Otherwise, the state may appear distorted, with three healthy pillars standing beside a vulnerable one, and risk stumbling at every step.

Bangladesh has several legal frameworks to protect journalists’ rights, including the Labour Act 2006, the National Press Council Act and the Wage Board Act. The problem, however, is that these laws lack effective implementation and monitoring mechanisms.

To address the situation, media house owners and relevant authorities should consider the socio-economic conditions of journalists and ensure a standard and dignified salary range for every journalist in the house. The government must establish a standard salary structure for journalists and make it mandatory for every media house to follow.It is the responsibility of media owners to comply with the law and ensure fair salaries, relevant facilities and security for their employees. The government should impose stricter measures, including withholding government advertisements or cancelling licences where a media house fails to pay its journalists their deserved salary.

Journalists’ bodies such as BFUJ and DUJ have been demanding, “No Wage Board, No Media.” But a Wage Board remains more a dream than a reality for 90 per cent of the country’s journalists. What they want is simply a salary range that allows them to survive in an economy where even the lowest-level state employee receives Tk 20,000 as basic pay.

Journalists who stand beside people by writing about injustice and inequality in society deserve to have their own rights protected. Who will establish those rights for them? The state, media owners and society as a whole must come together to find the answer to this question.