Caretaker govt can’t raise salaries: Rabbani

ISLAMABAD: Former Senate chairman Senator Mian Raza Rabbani on Thursday demanded immediate withdrawal of raise in the salary package for MP-1, MP-2 and MP-3 management positions and said this raise did not fall within the ambit of a caretaker government.

“The law and judgments of superior courts restrict them from looking after day-to-day affairs and adding to burden on the national expenditure as such steps of the caretaker government are increasing the class difference between the common man and the ruling elite,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

He said a severe economic crunch had gripped the country and there was a need to reduce government expenditure. The common man cannot have two meals a day and is forced to remove his children from school. He has to take loan to pay utility bills, but the elite are adding cream to its cake. If the government has surplus funds, the pay of Grade 1-15 employees should be increased instead of the elite. He said the government claimed not having funds for the PIA and as a result, hundreds of flights were cancelled. State-owned units were being privatized, but funds were available for the ruling elite to increase their salaries, he said.