Tk1,000 minimum salary incentives proposed for govt employees

The Finance Division seeks to provide government employees with a minimum of Tk1,000 in incentives along with their salaries, considering runaway inflation in the country.

On the day the budget for fiscal 2023-24 was passed in parliament, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recommended an additional incentive of 5% of the basic salary.

Accordingly, while calculating the incentive, it was found that the salary of the employees from 20th grade to 11th grade will be increased from Tk412 to Tk625 as per the starting basic pay.

Considering the current inflation, the Finance Division feels that the additional incentive should be at least Tk1,000, which is why it has recently sent a proposal to the Prime Minister's Office to give an additional incentive of that amount.

At the same time, the division has proposed to continue this incentive in the next year as well, according to sources in the Finance Division.

The sources added that, as per the prime minister's recommendation, it has been calculated that the 11th grade employees will get an incentive of Tk625. 

The incentive will be Tk565 in the 12th grade, Tk550 in the 13th grade, Tk510 in the 14th grade, Tk485 in the 15th grade, Tk465 in the 16th grade, Tk450 in the 17th grade, Tk440 in the 18th grade, Tk425 in the 19th grade, and Tk412.50 in the 20th grade.

Similarly, the first-grade employees will get an additional incentive of Tk3,900 as 5% of the basic salary of Tk78,000. The basic salary in the second grade starts at Tk66,000. At this stage, the final basic salary with a 5% annual salary increase every year stands at Tk76,490. Based on the starting basic salary, the incentive will be Tk3,300. And if the last basic salary is taken as the basis, the incentive will be Tk3,825.

In addition, according to the starting basic salary of the third grade of Tk56,500, the incentives will be Tk2,825. The incentive will be Tk2,500 in the fourth grade, Tk2,150 in the fifth grade, Tk1,775 in the sixth grade, Tk1,450 in the seventh grade, Tk1,150 in the ninth grade, and Tk1,100 in the ninth grade.

It has also been proposed that teachers and employees of state-owned banks, autonomous institutions and educational institutions under the monthly pay order (MPO) can be provided with the incentives.

According to sources, once the proposal is approved by the Prime Minister's Office, the Finance Division will issue a notification. The division is trying to deposit the amount of incentives along with the salary to be disbursed at the end of July.

A senior official at the Finance Division said the calculations showed that the salary of the lowest grade employees was getting very little increase, which was negligible compared to inflation.

"An incentive of at least Tk1,000 has been proposed for this. The proposal is expected to be approved," he added.