Kathmandu, May 24

A government jobholder, on an average, will be able to draw a monthly salary of Rs 20,547 to Rs 21,440 from the next fiscal, as the government is preparing to increase the salary of government staffers by 15 to 20 per cent.

On an average, a civil servant drew Rs 17,864 on a monthly basis this fiscal. If the government increases their salary by 15 per cent to 20 per cent, the government will have to bear additional liability of Rs 12.12 billion to Rs 16.16 billion in a year on top of the existing salary allocation worth Rs 80.80 billion for this fiscal.

After a hefty 18 per cent increase in salary in 2013-14, government jobholders had been given a raise of 10 per cent across the board in fiscal 2014-15. Their salary was, however, not revised in the current fiscal.

Consequently, the civil servants have been demanding a reasonable salary increment in the coming fiscal, stating that the value of local currency has been rapidly eroding due to rampant inflation in the country.

Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel is also in favour of revising the salary of civil servants, according to a high-ranking source at the Ministry of Finance. “Primarily, a raise of 15 to 20 per cent has been discussed, but the final decision will be made only a day before the budget presentation,” the source added.

“The government has plenty of resources for budget financing this year and could be generous towards civil servants to encourage them to bring vibrancy and efficiency for service delivery.”

Govinda Nepal, chief economic adviser at the MoF, also confirmed that the government has been mulling over salary increments for civil servants, but said the percentage of the raise is uncertain.

The government had allocated Rs 80.80 billion to pay the salary of civil servants, security agencies (Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force) and teachers for this fiscal.

There are around 376,860 individuals, who draw salary from the government’s coffers. There are around 75,000 civil servants, 107,860 teachers and 93,000 army, 67,000 police and 34,000 APF personnel in the country.