The JVP trade union, with the backing of the UNP, launched a one-day token strike, in support of a Rs. 5000 salary increase for Govt. Servants, which failed badly. The Govt. instead opted to give the public servant a pay rise of 1000/- rupees.

The irony in this case is that the present Govt. deviated from what Governments did in the past. When the govt servants received a salary increase in the past, the pensioners, too, received half of what was given to them. With the recent salary increase of Rs. 1000/- granted to govt servants, the govt pensioners of the day were left in the dark.

The present regime has turned a blind eye to the plight of the pensioners who have spent the best years of their lives in the service of the nation. Today in the eventide of their lives, they are confronted with many financial problems, old age, sickness and the escalating cost of living. While the pensioners struggle to exist, most MPs and Cabinet Ministers live in clover. The present Govt. appears to be immune to the pathetic plight the pensioners are placed in. Some of these lotus eaters in power have filled their coffers with money acquired by illegal means.

A case in point is how did a cabinet minister in the present set-up acquire money to the tune of Rs. 450 million and is now under investigation by the Bribery Commission.

The lawmakers, as a whole, are united by a gut feeling when it come to higher salaries for themselves and other perks irrespective of party affiliation. After a period of just five years, they are entitled to a rich pension for doing sweet nothing during their term of office, while the govt servants, who having spent over three and a half decades in service have to eat humble pie, literally speaking. Their voice is lost in the wilderness.

There are over four hundred and fifty thousand pensioners (450,000). Their presence will be be felt only at the next general election.

So UPFA Govt. be on the alert. The ‘war effort’ alone is not going to save them at the next hustings.