“Survival” Redefined: Karnataka Ministers Want 100% Salary Hike For Their Survival- While The Citizens Struggle To Pay Rents!

It seems Karnataka ministers have mastered living it up. But, as politics is, their luxury is at the cost of the common taxpayer. How do you justify the ₹31 crore incurred on CM Siddaramaiah’s helicopter travel or his proposal to double his and his ministers’ salaries? They quote “survival is expensive,” but who knew their survival kit included luxury flights and higher pay, while the rest of Kannadigas are just trying to survive?

Let’s begin with the helicopter trips. In what world does it make sense to spend ₹31 crore on helicopter trips as a public expense? This is not one fun trip—this is routine travel that is wasting public money at a rapid rate, like water from a hose dripping. It’s hard not to think that the ministers don’t care as much about getting from point A to point B and care more about showing how high they can fly, literally and figuratively.

Now, if that money had been spent on repairing Karnataka’s poor roads, on healthcare, or on improving schools for kids, then the people would have welcomed it. But no, it’s more convenient to squander public money than to spend it on public good. And it’s not the figure of ₹31 crore—it’s the message. And that message is: “We like our convenience more than your daily troubles.”

And if the helicopter tale wasn’t enough, let’s discuss the recent news of hike in salaries.

Siddaramaiah asserts that an increase of 100% is required because “we have to survive.” Survive from what, precisely? The salaries of these ministers are already significantly more than most of the people in Karnataka. The median income of the average household is far lower than that of a minister, even before they propose the increase. So, when they speak of “survival,” it sounds more like a blind cry for ease than an actual need.

Let us not forget, these are the same politicians who tell people to spend less during hard times, or who turn a blind eye when a middle-class household cannot pay its bills because prices are rising. Survival, for them, is not a matter of concern about being able to pay rent or even buy food. It appears to be a matter of being able to live an even more extravagant lifestyle as the state’s economy and infrastructural issues are largely disregarded.

And to add insult to injury, consider the injustice. When a private sector or more precisely, an IT sector employee requests a large raise, they are awarded with raise, not in salaries, but in work days, to 14 hour/day! When have you ever seen a minister—or an entire administration, for that matter—display genuine, long hours before requesting a raise? This is a privilege reserved for the top echelons and financed by the bottom rungs.

Let us not forget the background. Karnataka’s ministers are not the first to do so. Throughout India, there are politicians who appear to garner more perks and rewards at the expense of the people.

It was reported in 2018 that taxpayers’ money is used to fund ministers’ trips in the Modi Cabinet who choose to fly high in charter planes and book multiple tickets for a single trip. As part of a series on the misuse of public funds and taxpayer’s money by various ministries of the Indian government, an investigation into the Railways Ministry’s activities reveals that rail officials have frequently broken the rules to provide charter planes to the then Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal since he took over the portfolio in September 2017. This has cost the government 15-20 times more than it would have cost for the minister to board a regular airline.

They indicate just how far apart the gap is between politicians’ perceptions of what they deserve and what the ordinary people must tolerate. It is not a matter of one helicopter cost bill or one pay rise proposal. It is an attitude of entitlement, in which personal convenience is given priority to public interest.

And the irony? The payers who foot the bills usually end up with higher taxes, higher utility bills, and lower public services in return. If you think this is just a rant from a common man, hear the words of N.V. Ramana, former CJI who emphasised that India is a country with “two starkly contrasting realities: one India is prosperous, while the other struggles to make a living.”

What is most infuriating is that this is not about politics or political parties. This is not about Congress vs. BJP or who is ruling. It is about being accountable and paying attention to what is important. It is about whether leaders can stand in front of their voters and say, “This is how your money is spent, and here’s how it benefits you.” Instead, it is a lot of excuses about how difficult it is to survive, leading us to ask: If it’s so difficult for them, what about the rest of us?

There is this saying, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Perhaps it is time our MLAs and ministers in Karnataka and elsewhere in the country sit back and reflect on what that is. Public life is not an opportunity to indulge; it is a responsibility to others. And until the powerful among us remember that, we are left watching them fly—while the rest of us are left down here scratching our heads trying to figure out where all the money went.