Armed Forces, Mindef staff to get 10 to 40 per cent pay rise: Hishammuddin

NEW STRAITS TIMES

KUALA LUMPUR: Armed Forces and Defence Ministry personnel are set for a pay rise of between 10 and 40 per cent from July 1 under the government's rasionalisation programme for the Federal Public Service Scheme.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, in announcing this today, said the revamp of an overall 252 schemes on a national scale will see the upgrading of 29 schemes under the Defence Ministry, involving aq3,351 personnel.

This will see entry level Armed Forces personnel, upon completion of basic training, receive private rank minimum wage of RM1,564, a significant upgrade from the RM1,137 under the previous scheme.

Cadet officers with SPM or SVM qualifications will receive a starting salary of RM1,500 from RM1,104 previously, while those with bachelor's degrees in various fields dan bachelor's degrees in law will receive salaries of RM2,585 and RM2,730.61 respectively, a rise from RM2,411.85 previously.

Those with bachelor's degrees in engineering will receive starting salaries of RM2,876.67, an increase of RM173.30 compared to the previous scheme, while those with bachelor's degrees in veterinary medicine will receive RM3,022.13, compared to 2,593.94 under the previous scheme.

Hishammuddin said the rationalisation was in line with the government's public sector transformation plan, which also addresses issues of the rising cost of living.

"Our agenda is to ensure that the welfare of our personnel is upgraded. This covers not just the upgrading of the salary band, which was announced earlier, but many more schemes to ensure that the issues faced by Armed Forces personnel are addressed," said Hishammuddin.

He was speaking during a site visit to two blocks of Armed Forces Personnel Family Homes here, where he also handed over the keys to occupants of two blocks of newly refurbished homes.