Means test for pensioners should be $750
– Mrs Jagan tells Parliament
PPP Member of Parliament Janet Jagan on Wednesday accused the government of giving a “death penalty” to old age pensioners. The National Assembly was at the time debating a PPP motion calling for an increase in the means test for old age pensioners.
The motion which was moved by Mrs. Jagan originally called for an increase of the means test from $50 to $250. The means test is used to determine the eligibility of persons for old age pensions. If an elderly person earns $50 or more a month that person isn’t qualified to receive a pension. Mrs. Jagan said because the motion was over two years old the original figure of $250 was now inappropriate.
In moving the motion, Mrs. Jagan said that short of removing the means test entirely the sum should be increased to $750 and that should be adjusted as the minimum wage increased. The means test, said Mrs Jagan, keeps a person at the lowest possible income and denies them the initiative to earn more. The motion was aimed at assisting the small man, the gardener, the vendor and domestic, not real estate tycoons.
In responding the Minister of Labour and Co-operatives Mr. Gowkarran Sharma pointed out that old age pensions have been increased six times since 1985 from $55 to $161 a month. He further said that the means test did not create hardships and was an important determinant in deciding who was eligible for old age pensions.
He said that government alone should not have to bear the responsibility for old age pensioners and charitable organizations and relatives should help. No developing country, said Mr. Sharma, can afford to provide for all its citizens in the eligible age range.
In reply, Mrs. Jagan said she was “appalled and almost in a state of shock at the sorriest excuse a government could give.” She described the government as being run by “bureaucrats without hearts.”
“Who in this country,” she asked “can live on $211 a month?”
The motion was put to the vote and defeated.