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Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has welcomed the Cabinet’s approval of the new national pay structure for government employees, describing it as a positive step, but called for its implementation to be made conditional on the annual disclosure of income, expenditure and assets by government employees and their dependent family members.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman reiterated the organisation’s call for mandatory asset disclosure by government employees following the announcement of the new pay structure in the national budget.
He said the decision to implement the new pay structure in three phases was reasonable given the government’s limited fiscal capacity. However, he stressed that higher salaries and allowances funded by taxpayers’ money must be accompanied by stronger accountability and transparency measures.
“Unless the salaries and allowances of government employees are commensurate with the cost of living, it is impossible to expect the highest level of professional excellence and corruption-free services from them,” Dr Iftekharuzzaman said.
“However, to ensure that increased salaries and allowances deliver the desired benefits, government employees at all levels and their dependent family members must be required to update and disclose their income, expenditure and assets annually,” he added.
According to TIB, the new pay structure should be applicable only to employees who comply with the annual disclosure requirement. Such a condition, it said, would strengthen accountability and transparency while helping ensure public services free from harassment, irregularities and corruption.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman acknowledged that many government employees perform their duties honestly, remain free from corruption and irregularities, and lead modest and responsible lives.
“For them, the new pay scale is entirely justified and essential,” he said. “On the other hand, for those engaged in acquiring illicit wealth and assets through dishonesty, irregularities, corruption and abuse of power, such benefits are not only unjustified but entirely unnecessary.”
He warned that implementing the new pay structure across the board without effective accountability mechanisms could lead to a further rise in corruption in the public sector.
“Their appetite for wealth is so insatiable that if the new pay scale is implemented across the board without ensuring effective accountability mechanisms, the level of corruption in the public sector will increase further. We have already seen evidence of this in the past,” he said.
Referring to the government’s expectation that the new pay structure would improve the financial security and motivation of public servants and contribute to building an efficient, dynamic and people-oriented administration, the TIB executive director said similar expectations had accompanied the eighth national pay scale, implemented in 2015.
“Previously, there were similar expectations surrounding the eighth pay scale, which was last implemented in 2015, but the reality turned out to be entirely different,” he said.
“Salaries and allowances increased, but the extent and depth of irregularities, corruption and bribery in government institutions escalated even faster,” he added.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman said TIB hoped the outcome would be different this time, stressing that mandatory asset disclosure was a globally recognised mechanism for strengthening accountability and curbing corruption in the public sector.
“Mandatory disclosure of asset declarations must be ensured as a globally tested approach to controlling corruption in the public sector; otherwise, citizens will have no way to escape the vicious cycle of corruption,” he said.
He also pointed out that government employees’ salaries and allowances, as well as other public expenditures, are ultimately financed by taxpayers, many of whom are themselves victims of corruption.
TIB also expressed concern that higher salaries and allowances could put additional pressure on the prices of essential commodities and contribute to inflation.
Such an impact, it said, could worsen the financial burden on ordinary citizens, particularly low-income working men and women who are already struggling with rising living costs.
Against this backdrop, TIB urged the government to take necessary measures with foresight and ensure that the annual disclosure of income, expenditure and assets is effectively enforced as a condition for receiving the benefits of the new pay structure.