Pay fixation glitch may delay salary for some

The government plans to pay public servants their salaries under the new pay structure, along with four months’ arrears, on November 1, but many employees may miss the deadline as complications in salary fixation remain unresolved.

Applications seeking solutions to implementation problems were submitted to Finance Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Majumder, but the issues remained unresolved as of Monday, according to Finance Division sources.

The revised structure covers around 14 lakh government employees, eight lakh pensioners and six lakh teachers under the Monthly Pay Order (MPO) scheme. Those unable to complete salary fixation in time will receive salaries under the previous structure, with arrears to be paid later.

The new national pay scale was notified on September 17, while salary fixation began on October 5. Employees have reported discrepancies in grade-based pay progression, higher-grade eligibility and house rent allowances, alongside technical problems with the government’s Integrated Budget and Accounting System (iBAS++).

Applications from several ministries and divisions, including the Finance Division, Financial Institutions Division, Liberation War Affairs Ministry, Posts and Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry, and Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, reportedly cannot be resolved before November 1.

A senior Finance Division official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said gaps in understanding among those involved in preparing and implementing the notification had contributed to the problems. Officials were working to resolve the issues and consulting experienced personnel, the official added.

Employees say the prescribed formula could allow junior staff to receive higher basic salaries than their seniors. Under their calculations, a Grade 12 employee could receive Tk37,700 in basic pay, compared with Tk37,000 for a Grade 11 employee, depending on previous increments.

House rent allowances have also raised concerns. In one example, an employee promoted from Grade 10 to Grade 9 would see basic pay rise by Tk1,300, but the applicable house rent rate would fall from 50 per cent to 45 per cent. The resulting allowance reduction would leave the employee’s combined basic pay and house rent Tk600 lower a month.