No need to form 9th wage board for journos: Muhith

Journalists earn more than government officials and therefore there is no need for ninth wage board for them, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said today.

The salary structure as per the current (eighth) wage board for the journalists are higher than that of the government officials, Minister Muhith said.

The minister made the remark at a meeting with Newspaper Owners’ Association at the finance ministry.

The government would not intervene in this (media) sector over forming a new wage board for the journalists as it does not do so in the other private sectors, Minister Muhith also said.

The government will hold a meeting with the journalists in this regard on August 17, he informed.

The meeting will be held with leaders of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), and Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU).

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu and Information Secretary Martuza Ahmed were present at the meeting among others.

Journalists’ demand for a fresh wage board comes in purview of the government’s latest salary hike for civil servants – where the pay was doubled.