A lot of the over-60s feel that the government has played a joke on them. The confusion around the changes to the basic old age pension has made them feel a lack of compassion from the same government considering that they have contributed to the country’s wealth all through their lives. The lack of communication on the change, even if it is to favour the really needy, has led to discontent not only from the people concerned but also from the opposition and the trade unions.

The goal of the government looks laudable: the reform of the basic old age pension is aimed at taking money from the wealthier to give it to the more needy. In other words, the government’s intention is to cut down on the old age pensions of those who earn more than Rs 17, 333 to eventually increase that of people with the lowest earnings. Those earning between Rs 17,333 and 20,000 will get only 50% of the present pension.

The ministry of Social security has thus sent a letter to all old age pensioners asking them to fill in a “revenue slip”. But the bone of contention was the small note annexed to the form that sounded like a threat. It stated that those who did not send back the document within a week would have their pensions discontinued as from October.

While this declaration was causing worries to a lot of old people, who could not fill in the form properly, the damage was increased by the fact that this letter had not been sent to everyone. The ministry had not printed enough documents and some old people having heard that they would not receive their pension if they failed to send their document were panicking.

The government had thus failed to properly inform the main people concerned of what was really happening. “The recent events have caused terror and even psychosis in many old people,” Philippe Jeantou explains. Despite press releases, many of them were very confused about the whole issue.

All this atmosphere of tension was made even worse with the opposition’s comments on the situatiuon. They immediately made an issue of this problem by hinting that the government was dismantling the welfare state. Trade unions joined them as they totally disagree with the government’s decision to reform the pension scheme.

The problem is not really the change as such because the rationale of this decision looks logical. It is rather a matter of bad communication. The minister of Social security, Sam Lauthan, is however adamant that he has led a campaign through press releases and radio talk shows. According to him, the confusion has been caused by “the opposition and private radios”, which he says have been demagogic. How then can he explain the old people’s feelings of injustice against them? Although the government’s electoral manifesto included social welfare reforms, there should have been more effort to inform the public on the issue. The minister admits that his ministry should have sent full communiqués – like the ones published in the press – to old people instead of the scanty “revenue slip”.

Although the prime minister, Paul Bérenger, declared that there was a “good communication campaign”, he has expressed his apologies to the old people who have been caused so much worry. This is indeed a sign that he is conscious that the government has failed to address the issue in a proper way. The more so as the ministry has now postponed the deadline for the submission of the documents to15th Septem-ber. People can also call or visit any social welfare office to get more information on the reform until that date.

With this reform, the government seems to be paving the way to a more ratioanl pension scheme. The Mauritian population is definitely ageing. A quarter of the population or three times more people will be over 60 in forty years. As a result, the old age pension will cost Rs 9.4 billion instead of Rs 2.8 billion at the moment.

<I>“Although the prime minister, Paul Bérenger, declared that there was a good communication campaign, he has expressed his apologies to the old people, who have been caused so much worry.”</I>