A discussion meeting was held between the Bangladesh Secretariat Officers and Employees’ Council and the Finance Secretary on Sunday.
During the meeting, held around 4:30 PM at the Finance Secretary’s office, the council’s President, Md. Badiul Kabir, and General Secretary, Nizam Uddin Ahmed, submitted a four-point demand to the Finance Secretary.
The key demands included:
1. Immediate Implementation of Dearness Allowance: Formation of a new pay commission and enforcement of a 50% dearness allowance on the basic salary. Additionally, instead of the proposed dearness allowance, they requested a government order (G.O) to issue at least five increments in alignment with inflation.
2. Allowance and Ration Facilities: Implementation of a ration system for Secretariat employees, similar to other government civilian agencies such as the Anti-Corruption Commission, and prompt issuance of an order for a 30% Secretariat allowance.
3. Restoration of Time Scale and Selection Grade: Due to the lack of timely promotions recommended by the 2015 Pay Commission, the council demanded the reinstatement of the previous time-scale and selection grade system.
4. Increment and Tiffin Allowance: Reinstatement of two higher grades for Stenographers-cum-Computer Operators and two advance increments for Office Assistants-cum-Computer Typists, as per previous policies. They also urged the provision of a daily tiffin allowance of BDT 300 for employees in the 20th grade.
The Finance Secretary acknowledged the validity of these demands and expressed a positive stance toward their immediate implementation.
Among others present at the meeting were Belal Hossain, Mizanur Rahman, Sohrab Hossain, Ashraful Islam, Rahmatullah Babu, Abdul Hamid, Nuruzzaman, Kamrul Islam, Md. Arif, and Md. Ismail.
MKL
