There was a large degree of absurdity and cynicism in Government’s decision to withhold the payment of pensions until the fourth working day every month. This month, that working day happened to be the 7^th – more than a week after pensions were supposed to reach pensioners’ bank accounts. The reason given is even more absurd.

If a minister or an MP were to kick the bucket towards the end of the month, after pay day, in no small measure due to overindulgence in free food paid for by the taxpayer, they would walk away with a full-month salary, wouldn’t they? If they were to be paid a few days later, the country would make tremendous savings in such an eventuality.

Now what sense does it make to deprive pensioners of their pension at the end of the month on the pretext that if some of them should die – as only pensioners do, I suppose – they would already have had their pension paid? And the whole retired population of this country is deprived of their pension until the following month because this very happy coincidence would ‘benefit’ a tiny percentage of our pensioners! If the savings to the country are that substantial, it is worthwhile extending the same policy to overpaid ministers and MPs, who, due to the extended holidays and the dismal performance of many of them, seem to live in a state of semi-retirement well before they retire.

Delaying timely payment of the pension is as cynical as it is ugly, whatever the excuses given. It is made that much uglier considering the way pensioners were ensnared to vote for this government by the electoral promise of an increase in this very pension. Who has forgotten the cynicism behind the promised regular annual increases of the pension from Rs9,000 to Rs13,500, with the promise of yet another increase before the next elections? Everyone knew the country could not afford such extravagance but getting elected was the priority. Today, the government has run out of road and is using all sorts of dishonest means to renege on a promise it should never have made in the first place.

Sadly, that cynicism is not one-sided. A seasoned politician once told me that there is only one category of people more cynical than politicians – voters. Many pensioners unfortunately proved him right when they openly stated that they had voted for the current prime minister because his re-election meant more money in their pockets. Never mind the financially disastrous implications of that for the country and the rest of the population. It is a cold, dispassionate, poker-faced statement. As cold and dispassionate as the decision not to pay the pension on time, in spite of the fact that there are thousands of pensioners who live from hand to mouth and who rely on the pension for basic necessities, including life-saving medicines.

Yes, the country’s finances are in the red. Economists have been sounding the alarm for years. Yes, we need to rationalise and consolidate government income and expenditure and hard times are ideal times for doing this. The problem is that I can think of hundreds of ways to save substantial amounts of money other than attacking the pension of vulnerable chunks of our society. And I can certainly think of at least one way the government could start saving in a less cynical and more deserving way: the national assembly and retired politicians and former state officials. Everyone would get the message and follow the great example set. More importantly, this measure wouldn’t jeopardise the government’s plan of winning the election through another promise of an increase in the pension, which again we won’t be able to afford.

Pensioners are already counting their chickens and thinking of how to barter their vote. The government doesn’t want to miss another opportunity to get back to power, does it?