President asks govt to remove journos’ pay disparity

President Abdul Hamid has urged the government to take initiatives to remove ‘disparity’ in journalists’ salaries in light of the new pay scale for public servants.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 Feb 2016, 11:51 AM
Updated : 3 Feb 2016, 11:51 AM

“Journalists feel deprived after the government recently announced the new pay scale. I hope the government will pay attention to this and the problem will soon be solved,” he said at the biennial general meeting of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) on Wednesday.

“As president, I can assure you that my doors are always open for you. I will do as much as I can.”

The last wage structure for employees of newspapers and news agencies was announced in 2013, providing for a 75 percent hike in their basic pay.

After the government approved the new pay structure for public servants in September last year, the DUJ raised the demand for a new a wage board for journalists.

In the new national pay scale, the highest basic pay was fixed at Tk 78,000 and the minimum Tk 8,250, allowing an across-the-grade hike ranging from 91 to 101 percent.

The cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister get a basic of Tk 86,000, while senior secretaries are entitled to Tk 82,000.

At the DUJ programme at Osmani Auditorium in Dhaka, President Abdul Hamid urged journalists to keep the national interest above their institutions.

“If democracy flourishes, the mass media follow suit. So, you will have to work with integrity and sincerity to ensure the march of democracy is uninterrupted.

“Make sure a person or an institution or the nation does not suffer unnecessary harassment for a news report. The interest of the nation, not of a newspaper or TV channel, should be given priority during publication and broadcast of news.”

Recalling the ‘highly praiseworthy’ role of the mass media in the Liberation War and in all democratic movements in the country, the president cautioned, “Remain alert so that the role of a few people cannot put a smudge on your image.”

“The mass media are the fourth pillar of the state. The nation expresses its unsaid expectations through them. The media remind the executive and other branches of the state of what they have forgotten to do.

“This is why you media personnel often draw ire from many. But it is a very important job you do, without which the nation and democracy cannot be complete. This is why the mass media are an integral part of a nation.”

Hamid expressed his sorrow over the recent death of Altaf Mahmud, president of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ).

DUJ acting president Atiqur Rahman Chowdhury chaired the programme addressed by, among others, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, Prime Minister’s Media Advisor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, National Press Club President Muhammad Shafiqur Rahman, BFUJ acting president Zafar Wazed and DUJ General Secretary Kuddus Afrad.