Govt raises recruitment exam honorarium, revises spending limits for ministries
The government has increased honorarium for officials and employees involved in recruitment and promotion activities across ministries, divisions, directorates and government offices, while introducing new expenditure heads and raising limits for several operational expenses.
The Finance Division issued a circular on Thursday, making the revised rates effective immediately and cancelling its previous order issued on October 20, 2025.
Under the new policy, employees directly engaged in conducting examinations will receive significantly higher honorarium. Officials in Grade 9 and above will now receive 1,800 taka per day, up from 1,200 taka.
Those in Grades 10-16 will receive 1,200 taka, compared with 1,000 taka previously, while employees in Grades 17-20 will receive 1,000 taka, up from 800 taka.
The government has also introduced a new honorarium of 15 taka per answer script for scrutiny, a payment that did not previously exist.
Several major operational costs have been revised. The allocation for preparing answer scripts, including paper, has doubled to 12 taka per candidate from 6 taka, while a new provision allows 20 taka per unit for printing or procuring OMR top sheets.
Separate rates of 5 taka per unit for lithographic coding and decoding and 4 taka per unit for conventional coding and decoding have also been introduced.
The ceiling for miscellaneous expenses—including trunks, locks, paper, pens and other incidental items—has been increased to 15,000 taka from 8,000 taka.
However, several key honorariums remain unchanged. Question setters, members of recruitment or promotion committees, and members or experts serving on oral or practical examination boards will continue to receive 6,000 taka each.
The honorarium for evaluating written answer scripts will remain 130 taka per script, while objective-type scripts will continue to carry a rate of 35 taka each. Re-evaluation of answer scripts will continue to be paid at 50 taka per script.
Institution heads serving as written examination venue coordinators will continue to receive 3,500 taka, while examination inspectors will receive 1,800 taka per day.
The circular bars officials from claiming multiple honorarium for the same type of work on a single working day, even if examinations or committee meetings are held for multiple posts. Officials conducting written, oral and practical examinations on the same day may receive a maximum of two honorariums.
It also stipulates that all recruitment-related expenditures must be met from existing budget allocations, with no additional funds to be sought. Schools and colleges used as examination centres cannot be paid venue or centre fees under any circumstances.
The Finance Division said all expenditures must comply with government financial regulations, procurement rules and audit requirements, while proper vouchers and receipts must be preserved to ensure transparency and accountability.
It also clarified that the revised rates will not apply retrospectively and no arrears can be claimed for periods before the circular came into effect.
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