The decision to cut down the government spending by reducing the pay for civil servants has come as a shocking wave throughout the country. The instance the finance ministry decided to increase pay for government staff at the beginning of the year was the silence before the storm. While the whole world was facing an economic down turn the Civil Service Commission (CSC), revised the salary scale of the civil servants and urged the government to take action. The decision to increase the salary also came as a commitment of the current government during their campaigns.
The increase in pay also was influenced by the sudden increase in the pay of parliamentarians of the country. Due to the compounding effect of several factors the pay for civil servants was increased. This then lead to an increase in prices of the daily essentials, especially the rent. Increase in rent lead to the increase in the price of all the goods. While the prices of all goods and services have soared and inflation keeps rising, the government decides to cut down the pay of civil servants. This will further widen the gap between the rich and poor and lead to a financial disaster. Without taking any measures to cut down the costs of the daily essentials the government should not have taken this decision. Abolition of import duties of daily essentials also had not changed the price of these goods and the prices of vegetables and fruits are as high as countries like Australia. Additionally the rent paid by the poor islanders working so hard is leaking out of the economy as most land owners from Male’ has moved out of the country to live in livable cities like Colombo, Trivendrum and KL. Sadly the price of a two bed room apartment in Male is as high as that of prices in Singapore and Malaysia. However only those fortunate enough to hold a land in Male or are rich enough can fulfill this dream. This leakage is compounded with the widening of the gap between the rich and poor and hence the government needs to address these issues before reducing the pay of the civil servants. Even with post graduate education, there is no way to make ends meet in the current situation. The working hours for civil servants also makes it impossible to do any part time adding to the burden of bearing extra costs.
I strongly urge the government to consider these issues and I strongly feel people from other islands working in the civil service to go on a strike. We all should remain at home till we are served justice. There is no way for us to pay a rent more than our salary and survive this economic down turn. Since all properties rented are based on a legally binding agreement, the housing ministry should set up a committee of lawyers who can stamp these agreements based on a monetary scale set by government authorites. If the rental prices are not regulated the economic leakage will be so high that the country will fall in to a deeper economic recession.
The increase in pay also was influenced by the sudden increase in the pay of parliamentarians of the country. Due to the compounding effect of several factors the pay for civil servants was increased. This then lead to an increase in prices of the daily essentials, especially the rent. Increase in rent lead to the increase in the price of all the goods. While the prices of all goods and services have soared and inflation keeps rising, the government decides to cut down the pay of civil servants. This will further widen the gap between the rich and poor and lead to a financial disaster. Without taking any measures to cut down the costs of the daily essentials the government should not have taken this decision. Abolition of import duties of daily essentials also had not changed the price of these goods and the prices of vegetables and fruits are as high as countries like Australia. Additionally the rent paid by the poor islanders working so hard is leaking out of the economy as most land owners from Male’ has moved out of the country to live in livable cities like Colombo, Trivendrum and KL. Sadly the price of a two bed room apartment in Male is as high as that of prices in Singapore and Malaysia. However only those fortunate enough to hold a land in Male or are rich enough can fulfill this dream. This leakage is compounded with the widening of the gap between the rich and poor and hence the government needs to address these issues before reducing the pay of the civil servants. Even with post graduate education, there is no way to make ends meet in the current situation. The working hours for civil servants also makes it impossible to do any part time adding to the burden of bearing extra costs.
I strongly urge the government to consider these issues and I strongly feel people from other islands working in the civil service to go on a strike. We all should remain at home till we are served justice. There is no way for us to pay a rent more than our salary and survive this economic down turn. Since all properties rented are based on a legally binding agreement, the housing ministry should set up a committee of lawyers who can stamp these agreements based on a monetary scale set by government authorites. If the rental prices are not regulated the economic leakage will be so high that the country will fall in to a deeper economic recession.
the root cause of the socio-economic problems in the country are mainly due to the uncontrolled rental charges while by law most of the land and are state property.
If a person is renting a house build on state property the state have the authority to regulate the rental charges for that property. Hence enacting a proper proeprty law for the country is highly essential as people from islands other than Male are given an unfair disadvantage on the expense of others.
