With inflation running rampant, civil servants’ salaries can’t keep up

By Admin 12 Sep 2023

DMG Newsroom
12 September 2023, Sittwe
 
Lower-level government employees say that since the coup, commodity prices have been skyrocketing, and it is becoming difficult for them as well as the grassroots to survive.
 
A sack of rice currently sells for K110,000 to K120,000, one viss of onion is K5,300, one viss of garlic is K8,000, and a packet of instant coffee mix is K7,800 in Sittwe.
 
Daw Mya Than, a Hindu woman who works as a garbage collector for the Sittwe municipality, said that due to the increase in commodity prices, her wage is not enough to even afford food.
 
“I can’t buy anything if I go to the market with only K10,000. If I buy rice, I can’t buy cooking oil, salt and dried chili. How can we survive?” she said.
 
The township municipality’s waste collection workers are daily-wage workers and receive K5,000 per day in pay. Due to the increase in commodity prices, lower-level employees across other municipal departments are also facing livelihood hardships.
 
“A cup of tea ranges from K500 to K1,000. I have been drinking tea regularly since I was a child, and now I can’t even drink tea,” said a female cleaning staffer from the General Administration Department.
 
As a consequence of rising commodity prices, basic manual labourers are struggling to afford healthcare and their children’s education.
 
“If you live in Sittwe, you can face this difficulty. I had to drop one of my three children out of school. I send the two other children to school. How can I afford it?” said Daw Ramani, a Hindu woman who works as a garbage collector.
 
Garbage collection workers said they cannot repair their homes damaged by Cyclone Mocha, but received 8 pyi of rice from the junta as relief items.
 
“My salary is K130,000 per month,” said U Khin Htay, an ethnic language teacher from Pauktaw Township. “My salary has not increased and the price of goods has risen. In this period, it is not convenient for the basic wage earners.”
 
Under Myanmar labour law, daily-wage workers among the lower-ranking government employees are set at a minimum K4,800 as a daily wage.