Govt employees to rally nationwide Friday demanding 9th pay scale

The Bangladesh Government Employees Coordination Council (BGECC) has announced a nationwide mass rally on Friday, December 5, demanding the immediate issuance of the long-pending 9th Pay Scale Gazette.

Public-sector employees from across the country are expected to gather peacefully at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka to press their demand.

The announcement was made during a press conference at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

The council’s Secretary General, Bellal Hossain, said hundreds of thousands of government employees are expected to join the demonstration. “Dhaka will be filled with government employees,” he declared, adding that the rally aims to urge the authorities to finalize and publish the gazette before the upcoming national election.

The current salary structure, based on the 8th Pay Scale, has remained unchanged for over 10 years, despite a longstanding policy of revising pay scales every five years. Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, Chairman of the Labour Reform Commission and chief guest at the event, called the delay “inhumane.”

“Government employees have gone a decade without a pay scale revision, even as the cost of living continues to rise,” Sultan said. “For lower-grade employees, today’s salaries are simply insufficient to support their families.”

He urged the government to implement the 9th Pay Scale “as soon as possible,” emphasizing that any delay further undermines the welfare of public-sector workers.