Plan to provide dearness allowance to govt employees in two steps

The interim government has decided to provide dearness allowance to all the government officers and employees. The pensioners will also get this benefit.

Everyone starting from the peons to the cabinet secretary will receive the allowance. However, the benefit is likely to be implemented in two steps. Of them, the officers might be given a bit less while the employees might receive a bit more compared to them.

Senior secretary at the ministry of public administration, Md Mokhlesur Rahman divulged this information during a press briefing at his secretariat office today, Sunday.

According to records from the ministry of public administration, there are more than 1.45 million (14.5 lakh) officers and employees working in different ministries, divisions, departments, offices, corporations and autonomous bodies under the government.  

The special allowance, which is provided to adjust with inflation rate, is called dearness allowance.

In case of this allowance, a certain percentage of the basic salary is provided in addition to the salary. That means the salary of the officials and employees will increase when the dearness allowance is provided.  

During the press briefing, senior secretary at the ministry of public administration Md Mokhlesur Rahman said, "I want to give a good news to the government officers and employees."

“Since it’s a time-consuming affair to form a pay commission, a dearness allowance committee has been formed in the interim period. I too am there in the committee. We will be holding our first meeting next week.”

Mentioning that the highest tier, lowest tier and strategies on how to assign tiers to the officers and the employees will be determined, the senior secretary said that the government agrees on the issue that even the pensioners should be benefited from the dearness allowance this time.

The senior secretary added that they will try to send recommendations to the government within the shortest possible time. Once the recommendations are sent, it will be implemented by the government.

To have a clearer understanding of this matter, journalists asked, has the government already decided upon providing dearness allowance to the officials and employees?

In response to that, Mokhlesur Rahman said, “Definitely. After all, the committee has indeed been formed to provide the dearness allowance.”

This committee will recommend the percentage of the allowance, he added.

However, to what extent the recommendations of this committee will be followed is a decision of the government, he mentioned.

In this case he referred to the recommendations made a few days earlier regarding the age limit for entering the government job.

The senior secretary said that the basic salary provided to the officers is not the same as that of the employees. This dearness allowance might provide a bit more benefit to the employees.

Principal secretary to the office of the chief adviser, M Siraz Uddin Mia is the head of the committee, he added.