Sarath Fonseka has promised to increase the salaries of public servants by Rs. 10,000. There are one million public servants, and more than 14 million persons who are self-employed or working in the mercantile sector.
A short sighted policy that favours only public servants will have a boomerang effect.
We all know that most public servants are stooges of politicians and that they do a minimum of work. They are interested in serving only their political masters, not the public. Gone are the days of the honest public servants who served the people for the salary they earned from the people.
How does General Sarath Fonseka, should he win the Presidential election, hope to pay an extra Rs. 10,000 to the already handsomely paid public servants? Not from his own private resources, of course, but by taxing the already taxed self-employed public.
The only people who can cope with the cost of living are the politicians and the public servants. The executive grade public servant is very well paid. He/she gets huge allowances, cars for official and private use, car permits, free petrol, free telephone usage, etc, etc – not to mention the bribes that fatten them. They pay no taxes on their salaries and perks. Now Sarath Fonseka wants to pay them a further Rs.10,000!
Meanwhile, the self-employed get nothing. They have to pay income tax to maintain the so-called public servants, who are only interested in serving their political masters. The self-employed get no salaries, no pensions. They have to buy their own cars and pay for their petrol.
Who looks after the 14 million self-employed people of this country?Self-employed professionals are very badly off under the present administration. Those living on the interest off their lifetime’s savings have had their income more than halved when the Central Bank artificially lowered the interest rate. The cost of living is steadily rising for the self-employed, with their income drastically reduced.
The public servants do little or nothing for the public, but live like leeches off the public. Even the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue, who enjoys a high salary, perks, an official car, free petrol, and free telephone calls, etc, pays not a cent to the country, although he keeps harassing the taxpayers.
Mohan Ekneligoda |
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