As Minister of Social
Welfare and Labor T. Gandhi and Confederation of Trade Union leader S.Ganbaatar
bandy their different figures of which category of State employees stand to
benefit how much from the 30% pay rise, one development has passed unnoticed by
most people. The number of state employees that was 144,100 at the beginning of
this year has since risen to more than 154,000. All the new people, who had
worked at places that were not considered State organizations have been brought
under the category of State employees to give them the benefit of the raise.

Another fact that escapes
the attention of most people is that the raise is not all. Of course people in
higher positions earn more and their amount of gain in absolute terms will also
be more, but they also enjoy several perquisites of office, such as bonus,
foreign travel, and, at least in popular perception, access to ways of making
more money.

Ganbaatar has shown how the raise for high officials will in many cases equal
the total salary (after the 30% increase) of those in the less paid categories.
The minister has said any raise in income has to be linked to productivity but has
not explained how this is measured in the case of middle- and high-level officials.

Let us take a few specific examples
from real life.

Surgical nurse L. has been working at a hospital for six years. Her basic
salary is MNT235,000, and an allowance of MNT10,000 becomes MNT 4,500 after
deduction. If there is no complaint against her work, she gets a bonus of MNT15,000
and her transport and lunch allowance is MNT50,000. All this totals to a little
over MNT 300,000. She has to pay her insurance and health premium for this.

S. has a master’s degree and has been working as a Mongolian language and
literature teacher at a secondary school for 10 years. The basic salary is
MNT237,000 and to this is added a class work allowance of MNT10,000, and
another MNT10,000 for the degree. This adds up to MNT257,000 which would be
MNT334,000 after the raise.

D. has been working for 20 years but joined State Budget organization only two
years ago. D. is now a cleaner at the Mayor’s Office and earns a monthly salary
of MNT185,000, with no bonus. The raise will bring the income to MNT240,000.

E. has been working for three months as an assistant to an MP, and has a bachelor’s
degree. The monthly salary of MNT 350,000 would be MNT455,000.

L. against these, the minimum
salary of a high official is MNT 550,000 and would become MNT715,000.

The State Budget has
allocated MNT78.2 billion for the increased salary in 2010, but the amount
needed for the whole of 2011 will be MNT300 billion, according to the Chairman
of the Expense Department of the Budget Policy of the Ministry of Finance,
B.Nyamaa.