Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) today welcomed the cabinet’s approval of the new national pay scale for government employees, but called for its implementation to be conditional on annual disclosure of income, expenditure and assets by employees and their dependent family members.
In a statement, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman congratulated those eligible for the benefits and reiterated his previous call for mandatory asset disclosure by government employees following the announcement of the new pay structure in the national budget.
He said the decision to implement the new pay scale in three phases was “highly reasonable” given the government’s severe financial constraints.
Unless salaries and allowances are commensurate with the cost of living, it is impossible to expect the highest level of professional excellence and corruption-free services from government employees, he said.
However, to ensure that increased salaries and allowances funded by taxpayers’ money deliver the desired benefits, employees at all levels and their dependent family members must be required to update and disclose their income, expenditure and assets annually, he said.
In other words, the increased salaries and allowances should apply only to employees who submit such declarations every year, he said, adding that enforcing the requirement would help ensure accountability and transparency and promote public services free from harassment and corruption.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman said many government employees perform their duties honestly, remain free from irregularities and corruption, and lead honest lives. For them, the new pay scale is justified and essential, he said.
But for those who acquire illicit wealth and assets through dishonesty, irregularities, corruption and abuse of power, such benefits are unjustified and unnecessary, he said.
“If the new pay scale is implemented across the board without ensuring effective accountability mechanisms, the level of corruption in the public sector will increase further,” he said, noting that there was evidence of this in the past.
Referring to the government’s expectation that the new pay structure would improve the financial security and motivation of government employees and help build an efficient, dynamic and people-oriented public administration, Dr Iftekharuzzaman said similar expectations had surrounded the eighth pay scale, implemented in 2015.
“Salaries and allowances increased, but the extent and depth of irregularities, corruption, and bribery in government institutions escalated even faster,” he said.
He said TIB hoped the outcome would be different this time, stressing that mandatory asset declarations were a globally tested approach to controlling corruption in the public sector.
Otherwise, citizens would have no way of escaping the “vicious cycle of corruption”, he said, adding that it was taxpayers, who are also the victims of corruption, whose taxes pay the salaries and allowances of government employees and other public expenditures.
TIB also warned that higher salaries and allowances could increase the prices of essential commodities and contribute to inflation, worsening conditions for everyone, particularly low-income working women and men already facing rising prices.
The organisation expects the government to demonstrate foresight in determining the necessary measures and implementing the condition requiring annual disclosure of income, expenditure and assets, it said.
