The National Council yesterday unanimously adopted the Pay Revision Bill of Bhutan 2019 along with six general recommendations proposed by the Ad-hoc Committee.
The House with the show of hands adopted all the 20 sections which were redirected to the Committee for re-deliberation.
The House recommends the introduction of 20% of the minimum allowance on revised basic pay to the ambulance drivers. It also includes a lump sum overtime allowance of Nu 10,000 per person to the staff of the two secretariats of the Parliament during the session.
The amended sections also recommend a lump sum overtime allowance of Nu 5000 to the staff of the Department of National Budget involved during the budget session of the National Assembly. A lump sum overtime session allowance of Nu 5000 to the officials of the Royal Audit Authority involved with the Public Accounts Committee during Parliament Session was also recommended.
The House also recommends revision of allowances for the trainees studying in Technical Training Institutes/Institution of Zorig Chusum and revision of communication allowance for Tshogpas from Nu 100 to Nu 200 per month. Finally, the recommendations also include revision of daily allowance for in-country travel for S level employees.
The Committee’s recommendations to the government include avoiding any commitment for pay raise until the revenue is actually realized, set a time-bound target to reduce dependence on official development assistance and ensure that revenue from state resources are fairly distributed among the citizens through prioritized development activities. They also recommended the government to develop proper guidelines to provide allowances for the civil and public servants.
