In its second phase supplementary report submitted on Friday, ARC suggested that the government maintain the minimum salary scale for junior staff (peons) at Rs 8,000 per month.
Junior staff receive a minimum Rs 6,000 salary at present. The commission has recommended increasing the basic salary of junior government employees by Rs 2,000.
The report has also suggested increasing the salary of senior government staff. “Secretaries, joint-secretaries and under-secretaries will draw handsome salaries if the recommendation is brought into implementation,´´ a source at ARC told myrepublica.com.
Secretaries, joint-secretaries and under-secretaries now draw Rs 23,000, Rs 19,000 and Rs 15,000, respectively.
Secretaries, joint-secretaries and under-secretaries will draw Rs 40,000, Rs 35,000 and Rs 26,000 a month as salary starting with the new fiscal year if the recommendation is implemented.
The recommendation has adopted a widely practiced salary differentiation ratio of 1:5, meaning that the net salary of a secretary, the highest rank in Nepal’s bureaucracy, will be five times higher than that of a peon, the lowest rank.
ARC has also recommended providing civil servants allowances for house rent, travel, insurance and children’s education. The report suggests providing a Rs 1,500 allowance under each of the above heads.
The Rs 1,500 travel allowance has been recommended for employees who do not enjoy vehicle facilities from government offices. House rent allowance will be provided for those having no private house in the Valley.
Minister for General Administration Rabindra Shrestha, however, expressed doubts over implementation of the commission´s recommendation. “The Ministry of Finance might not accept the proposal as the report has been submitted at the eleventh hour´´, he told myrepublica.com.
He said that increment of basic salaries and other facilities for government employees as recommended by ARC would still fall short of the demands made by trade unions.
ARC, in its second supplementary report, has made recommendations regarding seven different issues relating to the bureaucracy.
Besides the recommendation to increase monthly salary, ARC, which is headed by acting secretary Yuvraj Bhusal, made recommendations on e-governance, civil service reform, issues relating to trade unions, training for staff, arrangement of a Metropolitan Police, and structural reforms to the Ministry of Land Reform and Management.
Civil service trade union representatives are, however, not happy. “The basic salary scale recommended by ARC is meager and it should be at least Rs 10,500´´ said Subodh Kumar Devkota, General Secretary of Nepal Civil Employees Union.
Administration experts, however, have expressed satisfaction over ARC´s salary recommendation. “If true, it’s a good recommendation´´ former secretary Khem Raj Nepal told myrepublica.com.
He suggested maintaining a balance in terms of monetary and non-monetary incentives for government staff.
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