Pay Scale: Juniors receiving higher salaries than their seniors

 Bangla Press Desk: Although the countdown for government employees to receive their increased salaries—along with arrears—under the ninth pay scale was set to begin this coming Sunday (November 1), the entire process has hit a snag due to various complications. Bizarre flaws within the complex pay structure have emerged, creating a scenario where junior employees stand to earn more than their seniors. As a result of this chaotic situation, over 200,000 government employees will miss out on receiving their increased salaries in the first phase. According to internal sources within the Ministry of Finance, these issues stem from the convoluted rules governing salary determination. This group includes not only current employees but also pensioners and teachers under the MPO (Monthly Pay Order) scheme. However, relevant authorities have offered assurances that once these complications are resolved, the affected employees will receive the arrears owed to them.

Investigations reveal that several discrepancies arose during the grading process under the new structure. For instance, theoretically, the starting basic salary for the 11th grade should be 25,000 BDT, while for the 12th grade, it should be 24,300 BDT—meaning an 11th-grade employee should logically earn 700 BDT more. In practice, however, the salary adjustment process went awry: the basic salary for an 11th-grade employee ended up at 37,000 BDT, whereas a 12th-grade employee is set to receive 37,700 BDT. Consequently, the junior employee ends up earning 700 BDT more. Affected employees allege that these discrepancies are a direct result of the flawed rules applied in the new structure.

They maintain that a permanent solution cannot be reached without a thorough review of these regulations. With the new pay scale—including four months of arrears—scheduled to be disbursed this coming Sunday, the calculations for over 200,000 employees remain incomplete, despite there being only a few days left. Efforts to resolve this impasse—including appeals made to Finance Secretary Md. Khairuzzaman Majumder—had yielded no solution as of Tuesday. Out of 1.4 million employees, the salaries of 1.2 million have been finalized under the new structure as of Monday, while the status of the remaining 200,000 remains unresolved.

Following the issuance of the notification for the new pay scale on September 17, the extensive process of determining salaries began on October 5. However, as calculations were being made, a series of complications arose regarding grade sequencing, higher-grade placements, and house rent allowances. To make matters worse, various technical glitches in the 'iBAS++' software have further compounded these difficulties.

Finance Secretary Md. Khairuzzaman Majumder has declined to comment to the media on the matter. Nevertheless, a responsible official within the Finance Division, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that these errors primarily stemmed from a lack of professional experience among those tasked with drafting and implementing the notification. Experts are now being consulted to help address and resolve these issues.

The Ministry of Finance has stated that employees whose salaries have not yet been adjusted under the new system will continue to receive their pay according to the previous structure. No outstanding payments will be lost; they will be settled at a later date. However, there are concerns among those involved that many ministries and departments may fail to resolve these complex issues by the November 1 deadline.

BP/SP