Pay Commission recommends special allowance for academics, doctors, engineers

Highlights

• Commission feels these specialised professions currently experience talent gap
• It wants to attract talented individuals in these specialised fields
• The allowance will not be given to other civil or military employees
• Commission aims to address tax disparity between public and private sector employees

The National Pay Commission has decided to recommend a special allowance in the new pay structure as an incentive for university teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists, and researchers. 

The decision was made unanimously at the second meeting of the National Pay Commission yesterday, a commission member told TBS on condition of anonymity. This allowance will not be extended to other employees in the civil and military sectors, he said.

Infographics: TBS

The meeting discussed the decline in the interest of talented individuals in pursuing careers as doctors, engineers, scientists, and researchers. Many, despite studying medicine and engineering, are opting for administrative and other jobs. This has led to a skills and talent gap in these specialised professions, causing Bangladesh to fall behind in new innovations.

"All commission members agreed at the Pay Commission meeting that we will recommend a special allowance as a unique incentive for doctors, engineers, researchers, scientists, and university teachers. University teachers involved in research will be eligible for this benefit," the member said.

He added that the salary structures for the armed forces and judiciary are separate, though they are aligned with the national pay scale. Members of the armed forces receive additional allowances, he said, adding, "Based on this, the commission has decided to recommend a special allowance to attract talented individuals to the medical, engineering, research, and innovation fields."

Pay Commission's mandate and challenges

The commission member said that their report would aim to address the existing disparity in salary, allowances, and taxation between the public and private sectors. While many allowances and income sources for government employees are tax-exempt, similar allowances for private sector workers are taxed. The commission will recommend that the government remove this disparity.

The commission will also gather opinions from private sector employees on what the new pay structure for government employees should look like. This will be done through a sample survey using a specific questionnaire.

"While we were scheduled to submit our report by December, it may not be possible. The commission has decided that if we cannot submit the report in December, we will certainly submit it before the national election in February. We will submit the report to the government led by Muhammad Yunus," he added.

The government established the Pay Commission on 24 July to determine a new salary structure for government employees. The commission, headed by former finance secretary and Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation Chairman Zakir Ahmed Khan, was tasked with submitting its report with recommendations to the government by December.

Analysing macroeconomic data

Those associated with the commission reported that it is focusing on conducting an economic impact analysis for the new pay structure. The commission has assigned the Finance Division the task of preparing a report on the future potential economic impact by analysing recent macroeconomic data. The finance ministry is expected to submit this report to the commission by the end of September.

Additionally, the commission has written to all ministries requesting data on the current and sanctioned number of employees, total salaries and allowances, pension amounts, and revenue collection for all government, autonomous, and semi-governmental institutions under the national pay scale.

Currently, government employees are paid according to the 2015 pay scale. There are approximately 15 lakh government employees, and this number rises to about 24 lakh when including armed forces personnel, bank and financial institution staff, and teachers at state-run educational institutions.

Following the interim government's assumption of power, discussions on a dearness allowance for government employees began in November 2024. A committee was formed to work on providing a dearness allowance from January 2025. After facing criticism, the government backed down. Subsequently, the finance ministry provided a 10% special benefit to government employees in the current fiscal year's budget.

In the current 2025-26 fiscal year, Tk84,684 crore has been allocated for government employee salaries and allowances. This amount was Tk82,977 crore in the original budget for FY25.