The new pay scale : An apple of discord
The buzzing question is why the university teachers are aggrieved and the bureaucrats smiling? What are the basic differences between the old and new pay scales?
Mohammad Azizul Hoque
The 8th National Pay Scale has been introduced, apparently to stimulate the motivation of public servants and reduce corruption from office, while anticipating that the generous pay package would enhance the bureaucrats performance and ensure efficient service to the citizens.
But out of the blue, this optimistic pay scale has become an apple of discord where a large portion of beneficiaries have been aggrieved, rather than jubilant. Particularly, the public university teachers, who have been stuck alongside third and fourth class civil servants, abreast with officers of Bangladesh Bank under the new pay rules. The buzzing question is why the university teachers are aggrieved and the bureaucrats smiling? What are the basic differences between the old and new pay scales?
University teachers think the 8th pay scale is nothing but discrimination against teachers and humiliation for the nations academia. Indeed, the protests are adding fuel to the fire due to the removal of time-scale, selection grade system of promotion, downgrading of teachers status and several other controversial rules in the new pay scale.
In previous pay scales, public university teachers and government secretaries equally belonged to the apex grade. Unfortunately, in the 8th pay scale, teachers are positioned below secretaries, and their increment would be determined as per the percentage of their principle salaries, in lieu of the efficiency bar.
Thus, teachers associations of 37 public universities have been demonstrating for months through street protests and work abstention, adversely affecting the study environment and escalating session jams.
The university teachers believe the educational arena should have a distinct status and dignity. Conventionally, the brightest and most talented students come to be university teachers. So, if we fail to enrich the educational sector with proper esteem, adequate funds for research and ultimately, quality education would not be possible. In comparison to neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and India, Bangladeshs expenditure on education is very little and university teachers here get less. Due to the low salaries, potential teachers may leave the sector.
Besides, secretaries are getting more additional opportunities with their salaries, whereas university teachers only get salaries, without any allowances for transport, fuel, house rent and so on. Previously, senior professors got salaries equal to that of a senior secretary, but the latest scale is very much biased against them.
Farid Uddin Ahmed, a Dhaka University professor, claimed that the position of teachers has been lowered by two grades in the newly enacted pay scale, which is humiliating for the teachers.
It is not factual that public university teachers earn more than secretaries. In fact, joint secretaries and secretaries get Tk 40,000 just for vehicle and fuel which is equivalent to many teachers wage, said Md Khabir Uddin, a professor at Jahangirnagar University.
Moreover, instead of time scale and selection grade, the new pay rules state that if a public employee stays in the same post for 10 years with satisfaction, then he/she will automatically get salary of the above grade from the 11th year. After serving for an extra six years in the same post, the employees will get wages of the next grade. This convenience, however, would not be applicable to employees of the fourth grade and above, while the earlier system of promotion after one or two years in different categories has been withdrawn. Conventionally, promotion and demotion of civil servants are adversely influenced by the political regime; consequentially, many personnel are suffering from ergophobia.
Policy analysts of the country think the latest pay scale has strong political orientation that would aid the government control the Secretariat and law enforcing agencies the two dominant power hubs by keeping them satisfied through incentives. On the other hand, teachers, bankers and third class public servants often stay busy with their work and have weak authority, and would not be of any threat to the government.
Indeed, a handsome salary for a public servant in keeping with living costs is also indispensable. Nevertheless, the 8th pay scale is a mixture of enhancement and deviation of advantages:
Highest basic pay Tk 78,000 and minimum Tk 8,250, an increment of 101%.
Bengali New Year bonus introduced as 20% of basic salary.
Retirement pension rate is now 90 %, from 80% earlier.
Previous class system removed; all would be known according to grade.
Total grade structure is 20, which was 16 earlier.
Annual increment would be determined on cumulative rate. For example, increment of grades 20-6 holders would be 5% of the basic salary, 4.5 % for grade 5, 4% for grades 4-3, 3.75% for grade 2, and no increment for grade 1 officials.
New pay scale will impose a burden of over Tk 159.04 billion, which is almost 17% of GDP.
The writer is a research fellow of Bangladesh Initiatives for Political Development
