The Prime Minister,Tshering Tobgay, said that they will be forming a Pay Commission to review the salary and allowances of Civil Servants and Local Leaders, soon. He was speaking to the media, yesterday.
“The Pay Commission’s responsibility will be to review the salary of all public services as per their duties but at the same time looking at the current economic state. After their study they will be submitting to Cabinet,” said the Prime Minister.
Asked how much government intends to save by initiating austerity measures for the Cabinet, Lyonchhoen said adopting austerity measures for the cabinet was very important given the current economic scenario and ever-increasing current expenditure.
“It is important to know that whatever work we carry out, we should not spend excessively. That is why we adopted austerity measures for all the 11 ministers with regard to their security, transport and domestic staff.”
The Prime Minister said they did not calculate how much cost they will be able to bring down. “We don’t need to calculate. My expectations were with this measure, we will be able to focus more on our work.”
Lyonchhoen added, even the civil servants, corporations and private sector should stop spending excessively amid the current economic situation, and work towards strengthening the country’s economy.
The meet the press session also saw media asking about the government’s economic stimulus plans, the sustainability of the ‘meet the people’ programme among others.
The new government also said they will continue with the meet the press session every month, initiated by the former government.