The National Assembly passed the pay revision bill on 26 June with all 42 members voting yes.
The Economic and Finance Committee (EFC) chairperson MP Kinga Penjor said that the committee felt that the 12 days annual leave granted by RCSC was not enough.
This was supported by the majority of MPs who increased the annual leave from 12 days to 21 days.
This is in addition to the 10 days casual leave and other leave like bereavement leave, maternity leave etc.
The 30 days earned leave was already added to the pay of the civil servants last year.
The Finance Minister Namgay Tshering said of the 365 days in a year if all the holiday and leaves are combined then an average civil servant gets 136 days holiday leaving 229 working days or 1,600 working hours in a year.
The EFC recommended that the Leave Encashment (LE) of the earned leave accrued till 30 June, will be paid as follows. The LE at one-month’s minimum pay scale for the FY 2022-23 and, ; the earned leave balance accrued till 30 June, 2023 after the payment of LE will be paid within five years after the commencement of the Act. This was also accepted.
Earlier the Economic and Finance Committee (EFC) made general observations and recommendations on the pay revision bill of 2023.
MP Kinga Penjor said, “Among numerous rationales behind civil service attrition, some major reasons include a low financial incentive, and work burden such as individual work plan (IWP).”
The committee emphasized the need of concerned agencies to strictly monitor inflation.
They also reported that a significant pay revision for public servants may create pressure on private employers to match or compete with the increased wages offered in the public sector. Private employees may experience higher living cost, potentially negating any positive effects from wage increases.
They correlated it to the cases in the past where pay revision led to inflation of meat prices where government had to intervene.
The Committee observed the importance for the government to strike a balance between addressing the needs of public servants and supporting the private sector.
The committee submitted that relevant agencies like Bhutan Construction and Transport Authority to monitor and control inflation in transportation sector specifically the taxi and busses fare. Likewise, the Department of trade or Office of the Consumer Protection must play proactive role to advocate and educate consumers on Consumer Protection Act to avoid unreasonable upsurge of goods and services, and monitor house rent as per Tenancy Act and monitor accordingly.
The committee also recommended the government to look into the practicality of IWPs as the tool has become cumbersome and demotivating factors for the civil servants, specifically in those in the professions of health and teaching, to motivate and retain the professionals.
The committee also recommended the government to look into transfer related issues with utmost importance as it is one of the obstacles that not only contribute to attrition but also to spousal issues including divorce.
The pay hike is a flat 50% hike all across, but when the 2022 Pay restructuring is included the hike is 76% from the lowest end to 55% at the highest end.
The hike will cost around Nu 6 billion a year of which Nu 4 bn will be given by DHI which in turn will be selling Bitcoins.