Instead of 92 percent pay raise for the Prime Minister as recommended by the Second Pay Commission, the Cabinet’s report say the increase would be by 131 percent. But, the Prime Minister says his salary should be kept as par with that of the Cabinet Ministers.
Other Members of the National Assembly, however, said that the Prime Minister should be paid more than the ministers.
If the raise comes through, the Prime Minister would get a minimum of Nu.180,000 and maximum of Nu. 198,000 month.
The Cabinet Ministers, Speaker, Chief Justice, Council’s Chairperson and Opposition Leader will receive a pay increase of 67 percent which translates to a minimum of Nu.130, 000 per month.
The revision is based on the recommendation of the first parliament.
In the meantime, a few MPs of the National Assembly said the information provided by the finance minister regarding the pay hike was incorrect. They said when Lyonpo Namgay Dorji presented the Pay Commission Report; he said the pay scale was worked in a manner that the high income earners were getting a lower percentage raise and that the low income a higher percentage. However, they said the second Pay Commission’s Report, was contradicting finance minister’s statement.
They said there is a huge difference between 20 percent for the Civil Servants and 131 percent for the Prime Minister. A few MPs said the Civil Servants might even get a lesser raise after the actual calculation. They added the raise is not enough to cover the inflation rate.
