The Office of the Children's Ombudsperson has sent a letter to parliament stating that the Ombudsperson's pay is low, and requesting that it be raised.
The Office of the Children's Ombudsperson has sent a letter to parliament stating that the Ombudsperson's pay is low, and requesting that it be raised.
The Children's Ombudsperson position was created under the Child Rights Protection Act in 2020, with a dedicated office set up.
A letter from the office was announced today by Chair Gasim Ibrahim in today's meeting of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee. The letter requested that the Ombudsperson's salary be raised.
Committee's secretariat shared the details of the letter with the committee members. It noted that the Public Accounts Committee had reviewed the salaries of positions for which the parliament sets pay. This includes the salary of the Children's Ombudsperson.
The initial pay for the Children's Ombudsperson was MVR 35,000 (USD 2264). In December, the salary was raised to MVR 41,000 (USD 2652). However, this is still a lower pay than that received by members of independent institutions, the letter noted.
The Committee's secretariat said that when the Public Accounts committee had previously set the salary for the Ombudsperson, they had been of the thought that the position is on a lower tier than that of members of independent institutions.
MP for Baarah constituency Ibrahim Shujau proposed that the committee meet with the Pay Commission before reaching a decision. The committee approved to do so. They decided today that the Pay Commission would be summoned and an update would be sought on the ongoing pay harmonization work in relation to independent institutions and other agencies.
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