After months of speculation and rumours, civil servants finally found the fate of their pay revision today. The Finance Minister has introduced the Pay Structure Reform Bill of Bhutan 2022 to the National Assembly. Civil servants will see a pay raise of 5 per cent to 24 per cent. The Finance Minister said the Bill is more of a pay structure than a raise. Of the many allowances that would be discontinued, vehicle quota is one of them.
Finance Minister Namgay Tshering said the fifth pay commission took into account all the issues with the current pay structure.
“The commission found out that there are many allowances. There is a lack of transparency with different kinds of allowances for different ranks. Also, the allowances are not reflected in the pay slip. It also pointed out that there is no performance-based incentive for good performers. The commission also stated that this way, there is a huge administrative burden,” said Lyonpo.
The new pay structure will have fixed pay and variable pay. Fixed pay is the monthly basic pay with non-pensionable monthly pay like house rent and communication allowances. The variable pay is the monthly variable compensation like leave encashment, Leave Travel Concession, professional, uniform, night duty, difficult area, high altitude, overtime, foreign service, contract, and radiation allowances. Performance-based incentives also come under variable pay.
“Allowances like leave encashment and LTC will not be given at a go like now but would be divided and given out every month. On this, there would be a small raise. In the civil service, Cabinet Secretary is the highest ranked so it will have a raise of about 5 per cent. The lowest is driver, and they would see a raise of about 24 per cent,” the finance minister added.
Lyonpo also said as a part of many allowances, the Bill proposes the discontinuation of vehicle quotas. He said, there are no clear set objectives on why the quota system was initiated. Similarly, the Bill states the withdrawal of discretionary allowance for Dzongdag, Red Kabney allowance, in-country training daily subsistence allowance, patang allowance, officiating, and overtime session allowances among others.
Also, the Bill proposes the discontinuation of six other allowances and benefits under the foreign service entitlements. According to the Bill, several Daily Allowances and Daily Subsistence Allowances like the eligibility of 50 per cent DA when both food and lodge are provided would be discontinued.
The Bill tabled as a Money Bill has been given to the Economic and Finance Committee. The committee will prepare for its third reading next week.
Kinley Dem
