After the rise in government employees’ pay and allowances, a move is now under way to revise the pay and allowances of the president, the prime minister, ministers, state ministers and members of parliament. The question of raising the remuneration of these elected representatives and constitutional office-holders has come up in order to bring it into line with the new pay structure for government officers and employees.
Cabinet division sources said that in the past, the remuneration of the president, prime minister, ministers and state ministers was revised shortly after any change to the civil service pay structure, and there is discussion of following the same process this time. The matter is not yet fully settled, however, because some of those concerned are not keen to raise their own pay in the present economic and social situation. Several ministers and MPs believe questions could be raised if elected representatives moved to increase their pay at a time of economic pressure on the public.
Some analysts, on the other hand, say a rise in civil servants’ pay and a rise in ministers’ and MPs’ remuneration are not the same thing. Officers and employees receive a set salary in return for their jobs, and changing their pay structure is part of an administrative and economic process. Ministers and MPs serve as elected representatives, so revising their remuneration also requires the public interest and the overall financial position of the state to be taken into account.
Shahadat Hossain, member of parliament for Lakshmipur-1, told Amar Desh that the pay and allowances MPs currently receive are very inadequate. But at a moment of crisis for the country, he said, there is neither any objection nor any demand over such benefits. “If the head of government takes a decision on this, we will accept it.”
The cabinet division’s additional secretary (administration and rules wing), Shamim Sohel, told Amar Desh that no decision has yet been made on raising the pay of ministers and state ministers. “If one comes, we will start work quickly,” he said. Their pay would be raised by amending the Remuneration and Privileges Act, he said.
Another cabinet division official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pay of the president and prime minister will also rise, because there is ordinarily a gap between their pay and that of secretaries. “So by the rules this will rise too. Work on it will begin.”
A secretary’s pay now exceeds the president’s and prime minister’s
Under the new structure of the ninth national pay scale, the highest pay for a government employee is 156,000 taka, which is a secretary’s basic salary. Under the President’s (Remuneration and Privileges) Act 2016, the president’s monthly pay is 120,000 taka, so a secretary’s basic salary under the new scale is 36,000 taka more than the president’s. It is likewise 41,000 taka more than the prime minister’s monthly remuneration of 115,000 taka, and ministers’ and state ministers’ monthly remuneration has also fallen below a secretary’s. Basic pay alone does not capture the financial benefits of these offices, however, which come with housing, transport, medical care, staff and other facilities.
No rise for MPs and ministers without a change in the law
Unlike government officers and employees, the remuneration of MPs and ministers cannot be raised by government order, and it does not rise each year through automatic increments. The relevant law or order has to be amended through a bill passed in parliament.
MPs’ pay and allowances are set under the Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Allowances) Order 1973. The remuneration and privileges of the prime minister, ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers are set under the relevant laws.
In 2015, the year after the eighth national pay scale raised government employees’ basic pay, the remuneration and allowances of the president, prime minister, ministers, state ministers, deputy ministers and MPs were revised. The president’s monthly remuneration was set at 120,000 taka and the prime minister’s at 115,000 taka. Ministers’ remuneration was set at 105,000 taka, state ministers’ at 92,000 taka and deputy ministers’ at 86,500 taka. MPs’ monthly pay was set at 55,000 taka.
Allowances on top of basic pay
Although an MP’s basic monthly pay is 55,000 taka, the various monthly allowances bring an MP’s fixed monthly financial benefits to 214,200 taka. On top of that, MPs receive 800 taka a day for attending parliamentary sessions and a 200 taka travel allowance. They have travel vouchers worth 120,000 taka a year for domestic travel by air, rail or steamer, a discretionary fund of 500,000 taka a year for the welfare of their constituency, and insurance of 1 million taka in the event of sudden death or disability.
Housing, cars and other benefits for ministers
Ministers and state ministers also receive various state benefits beyond their basic pay, including a fully furnished official residence free of charge with gas, electricity and water. If they do not live in an official residence, a minister receives a housing allowance of 80,000 taka a month and a state minister or deputy minister 70,000 taka.
MPs’ pay has risen more than 137-fold in 53 years
In independent Bangladesh’s first parliament in 1973, an MP’s basic monthly pay was just 400 taka and a minister’s 1,000 taka. It was raised over several amendments: to 1,500 taka in 1988, 3,000 taka in 1992, 7,500 taka in 1998, 11,000 taka in 2005, 15,000 taka in 2010 and most recently 55,000 taka in 2016. Because allowances and other benefits are added on top, however, an MP’s total financial benefits cannot be judged by basic pay alone.
The former secretary Abdul Awal Majumder told Amar Desh that it is not right to compare the remuneration of the president, the prime minister or other senior state office-holders with the pay of government employees, because representing the public and running the state are essentially public service, which cannot be judged or valued in money. A government employee’s post, by contrast, is a regular salaried job.
Abdul Awal Majumder said there was no separate remuneration for such offices in the British or Pakistan periods; remuneration and allowances developed over time out of the needs of livelihood. Since government employees’ pay has been raised, he said, a reasonable basis and argument has arisen for revising or raising the remuneration of the president and other public representatives.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report