Price hike

Tanvir Ahmed / DRIKNEWS

Over the last two years, prices of rice, ata, lentil, soyabean oil, powdered milk, sugar and many other essential commodities have been increasing.
Our caretaker government is now considering a pay hike for the government servants to help mitigate their financial difficulties due to the price spiral.
Undoubtedly, the government servants would get some relief if their salaries were increased. But what about millions of poor people of the country who are not government servants? They are working in various private establishments, mills, factories and engaging themselves in different types of works fetching a meagre income.
Time and again, we have observed and experienced that whenever our government increased the pay of the government servants it had an adverse impact on the market and the prices of essential commodities further shot up.
We hope our government will consider and take the following steps with a view to redressing the sufferings of the majority who are helplessly groaning under the weight of price hike of essential commodities: -
1. The Ministry of Finance may work out and calculate the total amount of money to be spent on payment of increased salary to the government servants.
2. That amount of money may not be paid to the government servants.
The total amount of increased salary may be transferred and deposited from the head of account of Revenue Expenses to the head of account of Revenue Income.
3. Rates of duties and taxes on import of rice, ata, soybean oil, lentil, powered milk, sugar and other essential commodities may be reduced drastically and if possible totally withdrawn.
4. Rates of tariff on natural gas, electricity, water supply, railway tickets, municipal holding tax, government service charges, non-judicial stamps, postage stamps etc may be cut by 25 to 50 per cent.
5. All the above subsidiaries and subsequent deficit of Revenue Income may be met from the amount of increased salary of the government servants and re-appropriation of the total amount may be made from the head of account of Revenue Expenses to Revenue Income.
We hope that the above steps would not only help the government servants but these would enable the people of all classes to buy essentials at subsidised prices.