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The draft proposal for the long-awaited Ninth National Pay Scale for government employees has been finalised in principle and is now being prepared for submission to the Cabinet, with the government considering raising basic salaries by up to 100 percent.
A committee led by the Cabinet Secretary has given the proposal its in-principle approval for placement before the Cabinet, according to officials familiar with the process. If Prime Minister Tarique Rahman gives the go-ahead, the proposal could be placed before a Cabinet meeting this week, according to a highly placed source.
The proposed pay structure does not envisage an equal percentage increase across all grades. Instead, the committee has recommended relatively higher increases for employees in lower grades compared with those in higher grades.
Under the draft, implementation of the Ninth Pay Scale is proposed in two phases. The first phase would focus on increasing basic salaries, while the second would cover allowances and other financial benefits.
However, the final implementation structure will depend on the Cabinet’s decision. The Cabinet may make changes to the draft, including deciding whether the new pay scale should be implemented in two phases or through a different number of stages.
The draft proposal envisages partial implementation of the Ninth Pay Scale from July this year, with full implementation targeted for January 2028.
This means government employees could begin receiving the revised basic salaries before the entire package of allowances and other benefits is brought into effect.
However, officials involved in the process said some complications relating to the judiciary have emerged in finalising the new pay structure.
To review the issues and resolve the complications, the government has formed a seven-member special committee headed by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.
The committee’s work is expected to influence the final shape of the pay scale before it receives Cabinet approval.
The latest proposal from the Cabinet Secretary-led committee appears to be more conservative than the recommendations made by the Ninth Pay Commission.
The Pay Commission submitted its report to the government in July 2025, recommending increases of between 100 percent and 140 percent in the basic salaries of government employees.
The commission proposed raising the minimum basic salary from Tk 8,250 to Tk 20,000 and the maximum basic salary from Tk 78,000 to Tk 160,000.
The Cabinet Secretary-led committee, however, has recommended a maximum increase of up to 100 percent in basic pay, while proposing different rates of increase across grades.
The final figures could therefore change before the Cabinet takes a decision.
The move comes nearly a decade after the Eighth National Pay Scale was introduced in 2015.
Although government employees have continued to receive regular annual increments since then, the cost of living and inflation have risen significantly over the period. This has intensified demands for a new national pay structure to protect the real income of public servants.
The proposed Ninth Pay Scale is therefore being closely watched by government employees, particularly because it could affect not only basic salaries but also allowances, pensions and other benefits linked to the national pay structure.
The Cabinet’s approval will be crucial in determining the final salary structure, the extent of increases across the 20 grades and the timetable for implementation.
The Cabinet Secretary-led committee’s draft now remains subject to the government’s final decision, while the special committee headed by the Finance Minister continues to examine the outstanding issues.