United News of Bangladesh

Over 5,000 government officials and employees working in Cumilla city have been deprived of the additional house rent allowance available to their counterparts in other designated city areas for years, leaving them facing a long-standing disparity in pay and benefits. The disparity has also raised concerns over income tax, as officials and employees working in the city say they are required to pay additional income tax applicable to employees in city areas despite not receiving the corresponding higher house rent allowance. Seeking an end to the disparity, Cumilla City Corporation Administrator Md Yousuf Mollah has appealed to the Ministry of Finance to recognise Cumilla as an expensive city and extend the additional house rent benefits to employees of government, semi-government and autonomous organisations operating there. He made the appeal in a letter to the finance minister on July 12 last. Later, Cumilla Sadar MP Md Manirul Haque Chowdhury sent a demi-official (DO) letter to the finance secretary on August 11, urging action to address the disparity. In his letter, Yousuf Mollah said Cumilla is strategically located between Dhaka and Chattogram and has seen significant growth in trade and commerce. He said Cumilla is also among the leading districts in the country in terms of remittance inflows, while its cost of living and standard of living are now comparable to those of Dhaka’s city areas. Expensive residential and commercial buildings have also been constructed in the city, and the overall cost of living has increased significantly, the administrator said. He said letters had previously been sent to the relevant authorities seeking recognition of Cumilla as an expensive city. Yousuf Mollah pointed out that additional benefits are being provided to government employees working in several other city areas that were designated later, while employees in Cumilla continue to be deprived of the same facilities. He urged the government to include Cumilla among the expensive cities and provide additional house rent to government, semi-government and autonomous organisation employees working there. Officials and employees of the district administration, district council, city corporation, court, police, education board and other government offices, speaking on condition of anonymity, said around 70 government, semi-government and autonomous offices operate in Cumilla city, where more than 5,000 officials and employees work. Despite not receiving the additional house rent allowance, they said they are still required to pay the additional income tax applicable to employees working in city areas. “If Cumilla is recognised as an expensive city, thousands of officials and employees will benefit from the additional house rent allowance,” an official said. Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Md Saiful Islam said there are around 70 government offices in Cumilla city, employing more than 5,000 officials and employees. “Cumilla is an expensive city, but the additional house rent applicable to city areas has not been included here. If officials and employees receive the additional allowance, it will encourage them,” he said. Yousuf Mollah said Cumilla City Corporation was established in 2011, while the current national pay scale was introduced in 2015. “Under the pay scale, city corporations across the country and Savar municipality have been brought under the scope of additional house rent and other facilities, but employees working in the Cumilla City Corporation area have been deprived of these benefits,” he said. “I have sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance to resolve the issue. I have also pursued the matter through Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid,” he added.