A total of 3,710 Maldivian workers are expected to benefit from the salary increments recently brought to the wages of health sector employees.

This was announced during a press conference hosted at the President’s Office on Sunday, to provide the details of the salary increments brought by the incumbent administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, to the salaries of health sector workers, effective Monday.

The presser was hosted by Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem, Minister of Gender, Family, and Social Services Aishath Mohamed Didi and the Secretary General of the National Pay Commission Dr. Mohamed Faizal.

During the presser, it was announced that 3,710 local workers would benefit from the improved pay framework.

The president, in his presidential address delivered at parliament this year, announced a wage raise for healthcare sector workers from the beginning of May 2023.

Shedding light on the details, Dr. Faizal noted that improvements would be observed in all allied health fields with the changes being brought under the pay framework, adding that the structure will discern staff pay according to their qualifications in a bid to encourage professional development and cater to the requirements in areas most challenging to hire trained local staff.

Further, he stated that the pay framework will also address the challenges of seeking trained professionals specializing in areas such as oncology in the regional hospitals in the atolls.

The improved pay framework will not apply to expatriates working in the sector.

Sunday’s presser also saw the government announcing the details of 67 job matrices including 63 job matrices from the social sector, two from the education sector, and two from the social services field.

This accounts for 520 employees from regional hospitals, 471 employees from atoll hospitals, 965 employees from health centers, 1,004 employees from Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), 298 employees from Hulhumalé Hospital, and 452 employees from the Ministry of Health and institutions run under it.

Further, it also accounts for some fields under the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice run under the Ministry of Home Affairs and health sector employees at schools.

In addition to this, details of the special allowances and remuneration in the health sector were also given at the presser. As such, Minister Naseem and Minister Didi shed light on the changes brought, which has come into effect starting May 1.

Starting Monday, employees who have not received the 35 percent allowance working in government ministries will also start receiving the 35 percent allowance.

These transformative changes were announced by President Solih in a special video message delivered to the nation on Sunday morning.

The salary improvisations and 35 percent allowance for staff in all government ministries would benefit a total of 9,838 employees and cost MVR 482 million on a yearly basis.

President Solih in his address expressed hope that these improvements will lead to greater service and inspire more Maldivians to join the health sector workforce.

This year’s presidential address saw President Solih shedding light on pay harmonization for those working in the healthcare sector as well as allowances for civil service employees. He added that once the pay harmonization process is complete, all civil service employees will benefit from pay raises. These include for employees in the judicial sector, civil servants, prayer leaders of mosques as well as those who call for prayers at the mosque