On Monday (July 6), the association's convener, Abdul Malek, presented this proposal in a video message. He said they hope the government will seriously consider the sorrows, hardships, grievances, and legitimate demands of about 2.2 million families of government officials and employees.
Abdul Malek said that due to the long-standing rise in commodity prices, low-paid employees are under extreme financial pressure. Many have become burdened with debt.
He informed that an initiative has been taken to implement a new pay scale after 11 years. During this time, two pay scales were supposed to be implemented, but that did not happen. An initiative has been taken to formulate the 9th National Pay Scale by combining those two pay scales.
According to him, a proposal for a minimum basic pay of Tk 35,000 was submitted to the National Pay Commission. However, after review, the commission set a minimum of Tk 20,000 and submitted recommendations to the government. The organizations of government officials and employees have respected this proposal.
Two proposals
The Bangladesh Government Officials and Employees Welfare Association has submitted two alternative proposals to the government.
First proposal:
- Implement 100% basic pay in one step.
- Implement all types of allowances in the next step.
Second proposal:
- Implement full basic pay in the first step.
- House rent allowance in the second step.
- Add other allowances in the third step.
Abdul Malek said that implementing the basic pay in steps would create various complications and employees would suffer financially. Therefore, there is no alternative to implementing the full basic pay in the first step.
He further said that if the government has financial constraints, the allowances can be implemented gradually. There will be no objection from the employees regarding this.
Calling for the issuance of a notification quickly, he said the government must make a swift decision to remove the dissatisfaction and uncertainty that has arisen among employees. At the same time, he urged employees to present their own opinions and bring these demands to the government's attention.
