Govt raises training honorarium, allowances by up to 50%

The government has raised the honorarium and training allowances by up to 50 percent for subject-based in-house training programmes conducted by ministries, divisions, and their subordinate directorates and offices.

The session fee for trainers at the grade-3 or joint secretary level and above has been increased by 44 percent, from Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,600 per hour.

For trainers at the grade-4, grade-5, deputy secretary, and lower levels, the session fee has been increased by 50 percent, from Tk 2,000 to Tk 3,000 per hour.

The training allowance for trainees from grade-9 to higher-level employees has been doubled, from Tk 600 to Tk 1,200.

For trainees from grade-10 and lower-level employees, the allowance has also been doubled, from Tk 500 to Tk 1,000.

The honorarium for course directors has been increased by 33 percent, from Tk 1,500 to Tk 2,000 per day.

For course coordinators, the honorarium has been raised by 25 percent, from Tk 1,200 to Tk 1,500 per day.

Support staff will now receive Tk 1,000 per person per day, up from Tk 500, a 100 percent increase.

The finance ministry issued a notification today for the revised allowances, which were last fixed in May 2019.

Meanwhile, Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, told The Daily Star that providing such allowances to government officials is an abuse of power, unethical, and immoral.

"Our experience shows that such allowances often lead to inflated budgets, unnecessary projects, and excessive expenditures under the pretext of training, both at home and abroad."

This undermines good governance and hampers the practice of transparency and accountability, he said.

Government officials already receive salaries and benefits for performing their duties. Receiving training is part of their professional responsibilities, he mentioned.

There is no justification for financially rewarding them further with additional allowances for something that falls within their job description, he said.

He also said that given the current economic reality -- marked by rising inflation, budget deficits, and increasing hardship in people's daily lives -- such an increase in allowances is not only unjustified but also a waste of public resources.

He said they believe that instead of increasing these allowances, this culture must be brought to an immediate end.