LAHORE: The approval of a bill recommending exceptional perks for past, present and future chairmen of the Senate has sparked discontent among farmers, who are calling for the bill to be rescinded and for the reduction of privileges for public office-holders, considering the country’s poor economic condition.

The Pakistan Kisan Ittehad (PKI) condemned the bill and urged the president of Pakistan not to sign it, stating that such jokes should not be played by politicians on their impoverished countrymen, PKI President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar wrote in a letter addressed to the head of state.

Mr Khokhar highlights the national economic crisis and record-high inflation, which have adversely affected every segment of society, particularly the farmers, as the prices of fertiliser, pesticides and seeds have doubled or even tripled in some cases.

The farmers had remained silent on the matter, understanding the increasing debt burden, declining foreign reserves, diminishing exports, and the widening gap between the dollar and the rupee. However, they are now shocked to discover that “the vultures are still feasting on the meat of the masses.”

Khokhar laments that all parliamentary parties, except Jamaat-i-Islami, voted in favor of the bill, which will impose a heavy burden on taxpayers.

He says that over 100 million people in Pakistan are living below the poverty line, and 30m children are out of school.

Instead of reducing the perks and privileges of other public office-holders, the political elite is setting a precedent of enjoying themselves at the expense of taxpayers by providing special and extraordinary benefits specifically for the Senate chairman.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2023