KATHMANDU, August 10: The government is going to increase the salaries and other perks and benefits of the country’s five top officials including the President. In a report submitted by a committee chaired by the then Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, Lakshman Aryal (now retired), it has been proposed to increase the salaries of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) and Chairman of the National Assembly.
The report has proposed increasing the salary of the President to Rs 250,000, the Vice President to Rs 150,000, the Prime Minister to Rs 110,000, the Speaker of the HoR to 95,000 and the Chairman of the National Assembly to Rs 95,000 per month. The Report on Salary, Facilities of Special Officers-2079 was submitted to Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi two days ago. The report will be implemented after it is approved by the Cabinet.
Redefining performance appraisal
It has been proposed to increase the salaries of these five VVIPs based on the salary increase of government employees in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The President's salary has not increased since 16 July 2016. Similarly, it has been proposed to increase the salaries of other four VVIPs as well. The report mentions that it is necessary to increase the salaries of these top officials of the country based on the changes in the standard of living, including the increase in prices.
Based on the salary hike of the employees in 2019, 2021, 2022, the President's salary should be raised to Rs 230,010, the Vice President's salary to Rs 143,418, the prime minister's salary to Rs 105,398, and the salary of the Speaker of the HoR and chairman of the National Assembly to Rs 92,128. The committee has proposed raising the salaries of the five VVIPs even more.
The decision to form a committee consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Finance and representatives of the Federal Parliament under the coordination of the Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to study and submit a report on the salaries, allowances and other perks and benefits of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the National Assembly was taken by the Cabinet meeting on 17 September, 2019. Accordingly, a committee was formed under the coordination of Aryal, Secretary of the Prime Minister and Office of the Council of Ministers.
