The federal government must be appreciated for increasing the salaries of its grade one to 19 employees by 15 percent. The step, however, may not enable the employees to fight off the impacts of inflation that has doubled in recent years. In the last three years, inflation has changed the life of the common man while the government hopes that the rate of salary will reduce their difficulties to some extent. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, this increase in salaries will be effective from March 1, 2022, and this facility will be available to those employees who are not receiving full allowances. So, it emerges that the relief is not across-the-board, however, the decision to merge the interim grants and allowances in the basic pay, along the lines of the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, will be taken in the light of the Pay and Pension Commission report. The Finance Division has prepared a progress summary for the employees who have been in the same grade for a long time. In light of this initiative taken for federal employees, it is hoped that the provinces will soon follow suit and increase their salaries at the same rate as the number of government employees in the provinces is many times more than the federal government.
The heat of inflation is being felt from the top authorities to the common man. A few days ago, the prime minister announced increasing the salaries of the frontier corps (FC) personnel while visiting Balochistan. Moreover, the PM has urged the private entities to increase the salaries and has appreciated a few companies for following his words. The fact is that most of the private companies have chosen to remain mum in response to the PM’s call despite the fact that the private sector is earning profits in the wake of increasing export orders. Moreover, in recent years, the trend of privatization has increased in comparison to the public sector and the number of people working in the private sector is more than the number of government employees. A large number of them are forced to work under unreasonable conditions at very low wages. These businesses should also significantly increase the salaries and pensions of their employees. Increasing salary, however, is not a permanent solution to fighting inflation. The government must strengthen the economy and the local currency and control the current account deficit. This may require long-term policies, and meanwhile, short-term measures like an increase in salary and increasing tax base may ease the burden of the commoners.
