Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has made it loud and clear that no proposals to raise government salaries in the next budget is under consideration. Aurangzeb's categorical announcement came as a bombshell for the government employees, especially those in low grades, who were desperately waiting for the month of June in anticipation of a pay raise.
The rulers tend to lament eroding fiscal space when it comes to adding even peanuts to the salaries of public servants or allocating funds for public welfare, but in the case of serving themselves, they hardly bother about "empty coffers" and never even hesitate joining hands with the opposition.
A case in point is the parliament's approval last month of a bill that more than doubled the salaries of legislators. While politicians in most other countries would be concerned by the optics of giving themselves such unprecedented raises at a time when the rest of the country is drowning due to the economic failures of successive governments, here, not only were the ruling party and its allies fully on board, but almost every opposition party — including those claiming that the current parliament is illegitimate — also signed on.
The rationale behind lucrative pay raises for legislators is the same as for any industry — attracting top talent. But this justification crumbles under scrutiny. If legislators truly believe in equitable compensation, why are they unwilling to extend this principle to all government employees? Even parliamentarians' argument that their total compensation had not gotten a significant bump in a few years falls flat when we consider that apart from the massive pay increase, they also pushed through significant increases in their perks and privileges.
In fact, by making bureaucrats feel undervalued, we risk losing the most skilled individuals to private-sector employers that offer more competitive salaries and benefits. Meanwhile, citizens will continue questioning the integrity of elected officials whose only shared priority is their own financial well-being.
#Selfserving #governance
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