DHAKA — The National Pay Commission has recommended a sweeping increase in government pensions and allowances, including nearly doubling the monthly pension of low-earning retirees and raising the Boishakhi festival allowance to 50 percent of basic pay, officials said.
Pensioners receiving less than 20,000 taka a month would see their pension rise by 100 percent, or double, under the proposal. For those drawing between 20,000 and 40,000 taka, the increase would be 75 percent, and for pensioners receiving more than 40,000 taka the increase would be as much as 55 percent, according to the commission.
Government employees currently receive a Boishakhi allowance equal to 20 percent of their basic salary. The new proposal would raise that to 50 percent. The monthly tiffin allowance for employees in grades 11 through 20, currently 200 taka, would be raised to 1,000 taka. The commission also proposed raising the education allowance by 1,500 taka, to 2,000 taka a month.
The Finance Division has prepared a preliminary draft allocating about 35,000 crore taka (about $290 million) in the next fiscal year’s budget to begin implementing a portion of the basic salary increase in the first phase. Given the current economic situation and inflationary pressures, the allowances are likely to be fully implemented by the 2028-29 fiscal year.
The pay commission, led by former Finance Secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan, submitted its report containing the recommendations in January. A high-level committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary is reviewing the proposals. Under the government’s plan, the new pay scale could begin to take effect in three phases starting with the 2026-27 fiscal year budget.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report