Allowances 13 May, 2010 - No sooner had the government revised the daily allowances and approved mobile vouchers for gups, than discussions on the basis of such a move made the rounds among the public.

Their concerns were that, in absence of proper rules and procedures to raise such allowances, the government intentions might be to pave its path for the next general elections by keeping the local leaders happy.

The daily allowance for gups has been increased to Nu 500 a day from Nu 300, while a monthly recharge voucher of Nu 500 has also been approved from April onwards.

A 39-year old civil servant said that the increase in gup’s allowances seemed nominal. “But one needs to know on what rule and basis can an elected government give a raise,” he said. “For instance, what if a new government comes to power and decides on an ad-hoc increase in allowances for other community leaders and civil servants. Can they do that?”

There is also confusion on whether a pay commission had to be instituted for the revisions in salary and allowances.

Allaying those doubts, finance ministry’s director general Nima Wangdi said the pay commission, which was not a full time committee, could be instituted by the government only for major systemic changes in pay and allowance structures. “In the gups’ case, the government has the full authority to decide,” he said.

Local leaders had requested for a raise in travel and daily allowances, and a mobile recharge voucher, among others, to the prime minister during the annual gups’ conference in March this year.

Cabinet secretary, Dasho Tashi Phuntshog, said that requests for increase in allowances were raised not just during the gups’ annual conference, but also during the annual dzongda conference and several DYT and GYT meetings.

“The home ministry had studied the issue in depth, including the financial viability, and had raised for discussion at a cabinet meeting,” he said, adding that the increase in daily allowance and mobile voucher was then approved. “In a developing country like ours, such daily instances would occur for the government to take decisions.”

The cabinet secretary also said that the increase in allowances, especially the Nu 500 for mobile vouchers, has nothing to do with pleasing the gups. “But the increase has everything to do with making the service delivery to the people more efficient,” he said.

Gewog heads had also proposed a salary raise, at par with those of the parliamentary members, and provisions to claim vehicle mileage for official tours.

Meanwhile, finance ministry officials said the government had the authority to decide nominal increase in incentives and allowances up to a certain amount. They said that there existed “no hard and fast rules” on how much authority an elected government had over such matters, unlike major salary and allowance revisions, where they had to institute a pay commission.

“Thinking long term where government will keep changing, a ceiling or clear rules should be there,” said one civil servant.

The finance secretary was not available for comment.