THIS is with reference to the report ‘Austerity takes a back seat as cabinet swells’ (Feb 28), according to which, the strength of federal cabinet has gone up from 21 to 43. Just weeks ago, Sindh appointed 12 special assistants to the chief minister and eight spokespersons. In Punjab, the monthly salary of provincial legislators went up from Rs76,000 to Rs400,000, with the salary of ministers going up from Rs100,000 to Rs960,000.

This was followed by an increase in the salary of each federal legislator from Rs180,000 to Rs519,000. All this has happened within the last 10 weeks. Meanwhile, the minimum wage of Rs37,000 has still not been enforced across the board despite the lapse of seven months since the announcement was first made. This is clearly not the right way ahead. In fact, the direction happens to be blatantly wrong, and there is a need to reverse the pattern.

One wonders that in the presence of a full-fledged cabinet, what is the lawful justification and plausible reasoning to appoint a number of ministers, special assistants and spokespersons, adding to the already colossal burden on the national exchequer. The nation is already under a heavy burden of foreign loans, and financial constraints mean we cannot afford meaningless luxuries. The gover-nment is simply having fun at public’s expense.

A country where downtrodden and marginalised sections of people are living without basic amenities, actions taken by federal and provincial governments clearly undermine the credibility of the political system, and erode the confidence of the people in democracy.

Tariq Majeed
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2025