Tears (Originally uploaded on Flickr.com by !!sahrizvi!!).
Adil Najam
On June 12 I had written about the new Rs. 5000 note and included a picture because I thought people would like to see what Rs. 5000 looked like. Well, there are many ways to find out what Rs. 5000 ‘looks like’. One way is to consider the fact that many–maybe even most–Pakistanis make much LESS than Rs. 5000 a month in raw cash terms!
I spoke to some folks in Pakistan recently and was told that a ‘good’ cook would expect to be paid around Rs. 5000 a month (implying that a ‘not good’ one will be paid less). A driver would be paid Rs. 3000 to Rs. 5000 depending not as much on his driving as your car, and so on.
So what we have here is a situation where the monthly salary of many, if not most, Pakistanis can be paid in a single bank note. What does that say about our economy? About us as a people?
Take a minute to let the thought seep in.
This pic tells a whole lot. Good.
My post was for Pakistani.
Rightly said MSK.
^ Hilarious.
The telecom exec’s bank account is going to be credited. He is not going to be paid sallary in cash .
One con I read about a single high denomination note was, salary is an emotive thing for the labor class (cooks, drivers etc) and the bigger a bundle they are handed at the end of the month the more comfortable they are. Its sort of embarrassing for them to carry home a single note.
Actually it does matter. A huge lot. It points to the rising cost of living and inflation on the one hand, and the apalling inequity on the other. This is teh worse-worse case. Prices are obviously so high that we need a note this large. And yet so many are being so poorly that they can obviously not meet even their basic needs. I cannot think of any other country where the highest denomination note is higher than the monthly income of so many.
P.S. The guy who gets Rs. 300,000 per month is probably getting it put into his bank directly anyhow!)
Why should it matter if someone gets his salary in one note or many?
What about the telecom Exec who gets Rs. 300,000 per month…. dealing with 60 Rs. 5000 notes has to be easier than dealing with 300 Rs. 1000 notes or with 3000 Rs. 100 notes?