REJAUL KARIM BYRON

The government may implement the Ninth Pay Scale in two phases, with the full increase in basic salaries likely to take effect from July and increased allowances to follow the next fiscal year, finance ministry officials have said.

A secretaries’ committee, led by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani, is expected to submit its evaluation of the Ninth Pay Commission’s recommendations, along with an implementation roadmap, to the finance ministry this week.

The committee has finalised its recommendations after reviewing three separate pay commission reports on the civil administration, the judiciary and the armed forces, officials involved in the process told The Daily Star.

The finance ministry is expected to issue a gazette notification by mid-July once the prime minister approves the implementation plan.

Initially, the government weighed two options for rolling out the ninth pay scale -- over three years or over two years.

Under the three-year option, the increase in basic salary would be split over two fiscal years -- 50 percent in the first year and the remaining 50 percent in the second -- while revised allowances would come into effect in the third year.

For example, if an employee with a basic salary of Tk 10,000 gets a 100 percent raise under this option, the basic would rise to Tk 15,000 in the first year and Tk 20,000 in the second. The higher allowances would be paid from the third year.

SEE PAGE 6 COL 1