THE Parliament on Thursday unanimously passed three bills to almost double the pay and privileges of the President, Prime Minister, the Speaker, Ministers and MPs. Moreover, the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has taken up a residential project at Keraniganj, in the outskirt of the capital where MPs of the current Parliament, who do not have any plot or flat in the city would have reserved plots or flats for them. There is no doubt, Parliament is sovereign to do and undo anything but many have raised question on the move on ethical point of view. When they say an incumbent parliament can’t vote to raise salary of the present government leaders by its own majority they essentially point to the arbitrariness of the party in power to grab undue benefits. In true democracy, if the government believes that existing salary and benefits of the government leaders are not enough, Parliament can make new law raising their privileges. But it becomes effective only under the next government to show that the incumbent Parliament has acted impartially to authorize additional expenditure from tax payers money. The bills as they are going to be laws soon will double the President’s monthly salary to Tk 1,20 lakh and that of the Prime Minister to Tk 1.15 lakh. The Speaker will draw Tk 1,12 lakh per month and Ministers, State Ministers and MPs will draw Tk 1,05 lakh, Tk 92,000 and Tk 55,000 respectively being doubled from earlier amount. Other allowances have also been doubled to give the impression that money is no problem for the ruling party men now at the helm of the government. Since last year when the government doubled the pay and allowances of the government servants, government leaders were demanding pay hike saying they are not hungry for money but their social status demands that their salary should be above the highest salary grade of the government servants. As it appears the legislation is now addressing the issue however prompting many to raise the question what the ordinary people have got to improve their standard of living, except tall talks about imaginary developments. Money, land, plots and flats – all are pouring in to those who are having enormous wealth and power. But such steps are only widening the income gap and socio-economic disparity to make the poor to become poorer and wealthy to be wealthier. The question is who will pay the poor fighting to make their subsistence and why the government is not finding enough money to give peace and security to people as chaos, corruption, and lawlessness are taking the nation to the brink. A government, which thinks only for itself, is not a people’s government and therefore not feels obliged to be accountable to people to use their money. But why tax money to be used to unjustifiably pay the government leaders leaving other causes unattended is the big question that has no clear answer.
