Pay hike decision for public employees rests with next govt: Adviser Fouzul

The interim government will not implement the proposed Ninth pay scale for government employees, Power and Energy Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan said today.

The authority to accept, revise or cancel the proposed pay structure rests entirely with the next elected government, he said while responding to reporters after a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Government Purchase at the Secretariat in Dhaka.

Khan said the administration has only received the report of the Pay Commission and has taken no decision regarding the implementation of the recommendations.

The disclosure comes a week after the ninth National Pay Commission proposed a new salary structure for government employees, recommending increases ranging from 100 percent to 142 percent, alongside substantial rises in other benefits.

If implemented, the proposals will require an additional annual expenditure of more than Tk 1 lakh crore, which is one-fifth of the total allocated operating expenditure of the government for the fiscal year 2025-26, and 13 percent of the total Tk 7.90 lakh crore.

The eighth National Pay Scale was implemented in 2015.

He said that submission of the Pay Commission report should not be construed as a binding decision, adding that the recommendations are not meant for direct enforcement.

Khan said a review committee led by the Cabinet Secretary will examine the financial implications and other relevant aspects of the proposed pay scale before placing any formal proposal.

The next government would be free to amend or overturn the recommendations, he said.

Khan said civil servants had been demanding the formation of a pay commission for the past 10 to 15 years, and the interim administration facilitated the process to address this.

He said the interim government formed the pay commission so the elected government does not face any discontent at the beginning of its tenure.

He said the current government’s mandate is limited to preparatory and continuity work for its successor.

Khan cited ongoing master plans for the power and energy sectors and multimodal transport initiatives as examples and added that the pay commission issue falls within the same framework.

Responding to the concern that the implementation of a new pay scale for public employees fuels commodity prices, he said there was no basis for such concerns, as no implementation decision has been taken.