The finance ministry has prepared a new salary structure for the teachers of the public universities, allowing them all financial benefits, such as ‘timescale’ and ‘selection grade’, sources in the Finance Division said. The benefits, however, would be granted under a new name, ‘promotions’, instead of ‘timescale’ and ‘selection grade’, which were deleted from the new pay scales, the sources added. Those public university teachers who are receiving their salaries under Grade 2 would be promoted to Grade 2, and Grade 2 teachers would be promoted to Grade 1 posts, instead of the existing ‘timescale’ and ‘selection grade’, according to the sources. This was decided at an exclusive meeting, held at the finance ministry on Thursday with the members of the Cabinet committee, over the elimination of salary discrimination, with finance minister AMA Muhith in the chair. During the meeting, the finance minister told the committee members that the matter would be finalised soon after holding meetings with the leaders of the public university teachers. A member of the committee told The Independent on condition of anonymity that all the financial facilities of the public university teachers would continue, as they had been in the past. “But they would not be able to describe this as ‘timescale’ and ‘selection grade’; it would be ‘promotion’,” he said. The committee member also disclosed that a gazette notification is likely to be issued in this regard after holding a meeting with the university teachers. He also said the finance ministry asked the Cabinet secretary to increase Grade 1 officers from the other cadres to resolve discrimination on the issue of status.
Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Association (FBUTA) president Prof. Farid Uddin Ahmed told this correspondent that they are negotiating the matter with the Cabinet committee members, and positive progress is going on. “The Cabinet committee members have understood the matter. We are hoping the matter would be resolved soon,” he said.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and finance minister AMA Muhith are very much positive on the matter,” he added. “We will obviously meet the finance minister on the matter if he wishes to meet us,” Prof. Farid added. On September 16, the Cabinet Division reconstituted the Cabinet committee on the elimination of salary discrimination, headed by finance minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith. Other members of the committee are: the industries minister, commerce minister, education minister, law minister, state minister for public administration and state minister for finance and planning. The Cabinet secretary, the Prime Minister’s principal secretary, senior secretaries of the Finance Division and the public administration ministry, and senior secretaries/secretaries/acting secretaries of the relevant ministries and divisions will provide support to the committee members. On September 7, the Cabinet approved the new pay scales for public servants, raising the monthly basic salary of Grade 1 public officials to Tk. 78,000 (fixed), while the basic pay of Grade 20 employees was Tk. 8,250, making the national exchequer bear an additional expenditure of Tk. 15,904.24 crore in the current fiscal year. Public university teachers have been agitating for independent pay scales for themselves, having dubbed the Eighth National Pay Scales “discriminatory”.