Public rejects budget

Islamabad:The newly announced federal budget for 2025-26 has sparked widespread public outrage, with citizens from all walks of life rejecting it as "anti-people" and "the worst in the country's history." Speaking to The News, residents accused the government of ignoring public grievances and imposing harsh new taxes that have further burdened the already struggling common man.

The proposed 18 per cent sales tax and increased petroleum levy are expected to trigger a fresh wave of inflation across the country. Citizens fear a severe rise in the cost of living in the coming weeks.

Haji Muhammad Irshad Chaudhry, Central Chairman of the All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA), and Chaudhry Nasrullah Khan Hanjra, APCA Punjab Chairman, denounced the meager 10% salary and 7% pension increase for government employees. “While rulers have raised their own salaries from Rs200,000 to Rs1.3 million and claimed six months of back benefits, they have failed to ensure fairness and justice,” they said, accusing the government of being blinded by the intoxication of wealth. They condemned the Rs120 tax on a litre of petrol and warned of year-round protests and sit-ins.

Speaking at a sit-in outside Parliament, APCA President Haji Muhammad Irshad stated that government employees would continue their protest until their demands are met. “How can a 10% salary increase be justified when kitchen item prices have skyrocketed?” he asked.

Other unions, including the Railway Prem Union, Teachers Union, Civil Secretariat Employees Association, and WAPDA Hydro Electric Labour Union, also rejected the budget, accusing the government of pursuing a systematic agenda to "crush the poor." They said speeches from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet offered nothing but false hope, leaving the masses with no option but to take to the streets.

Citizens lambasted the government’s failure to reduce the lavish expenses of parliamentarians and senior officials. “They continue to live luxuriously on borrowed money while asking the poor to tighten their belts,” said one protester.

“We hoped for relief in electricity and gas bills, and in the prices of essential items like flour, ghee, pulses, vegetables, fruits, meat, and milk,” said Haji Muhammad Latif, a senior citizen. “Instead, we got nothing.”

Housewife Shazia Norin added that the new taxes will drive up prices of everyday goods like cement, edible oil, cold drinks, sugar, tea, butter, steel, shoes, clothes, and more. She feared an immediate spike in prices, worsening the crisis for families already struggling to make ends meet.

Market figures already paint a grim picture: one kilogram of ghee costs Rs570, mutton Rs2,500, beef Rs1,500, chicken Rs800, red chili Rs1,200, milk Rs220 per litre, and sugar Rs180 per kilogram.

Across the country, traders, labourers, farmers, and salaried employees have unanimously rejected the budget, blaming the government’s commitment to IMF conditions for the severe decline in living standards.