& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Higher allowances proposed for govt employees

Farashuddin says commission did not recommend reimbursement of income tax for officials

Rejaul Karim Byron
The Pay and Service Commission has proposed to increase allowances of government staff, besides their basic salaries.
However, dearness allowance (DA) is being withdrawn from their pay packages.
For example, a secretary draws Tk 75,966 including a DA ofTk 6,000 now. In line with the proposed salary structure, a secretary's salary will rise 88 percent to Tk 142,833, but there will be no DA, according to a report submitted by the commission's Chairman Mohammad Farashuddin to Finance Minister AMA Muhith on December 21.
Besides the basic salary, a large portion of a government staffs salary is the house rent allowance; some changes have been made in that category this time.
Instead of the existing three areas for house rent, four have been created. One is Dhaka Metropolitan Area, where employees will get 50 to 70 percent of their basic salary in house rents, increasing from the existing 50-65 percent.
The divisional cities of Gazipur, Cox's Bazar and Savar have now been included; they will receive 45 to 65 percent of basic salary, instead of the existing 40 to 55 percent.
A new area has been opened for the district towns; the government staff will get 40 to 60 percent of their basic salary as house rent allowance there.
In other areas, the house rent allowance will be 35 to 55 percent of basic, which was 35 to 50 percent previously.
Employees who presently reside in government quarters do not get a house rent allowance. In addition, 7.5 percent is deducted from their basic salary as service charge. The commission recommended that the service charge be dropped, on a condition that the employees themselves will bear the maintenance cost of the house. The public servants get some other allowances as well, including education, healthcare, tiffin, recreation and festival bonus, alongside house rents. The commission recommended a Tk 1,000 monthly education allowance for an employee with one child, which is Tk 200 at present and Tk 2,000 for two children, rising fromTk 300.
It also proposed giving recreation allowance to staff every two years, instead of three; employees will be granted a 15-day leave along with one month's basic salary then.
With the increase in allowance in fiscal 2015-16, the house rent allowance will rise byTk 4,940 crore to Tk 9,746 crore. Medical allowance will soar by Tk 998 crore to Tk 1,871 crore. Education aid allowance will increase by Tk 1,250 crore to beTk 1,458 crore.
The commission did not advise the government to reimburse the money that public servants pay as their income tax, Farashuddin told The Daily Star. A report published yesterday in The Daily Star said the commission has recommended giving public servants, who pay income tax, an additional half-month's basic salary at the year's end.
Farashuddin said the commission recommended that the income tax be mandatorily deducted from employees' basic salaries, wherever applicable, every month; and the figure can be adjusted at the time of submission of the income tax return. However, he said the report mentioned that the existing provision of not deducting income tax on the allowances may continue.
There is a debate among some quarters that the employees' allowances should be brought under the purview of income tax, Farashuddin said. He also said the commission also recommended that the dividend of the pensioners' savings instruments be kept free of income tax.
A member of the commission said there was a recommendation for reimbursement the draft report, but it was dropped in the final report.
Since fiscal 2010-11, sixth-grade government employees and above have been paying a half-month's basic salary in income tax every year.