As children, we learnt about the story of the grasshopper and the ant. During summer, the grasshopper danced around merrily whilst the ant worked incessantly to build up its stocks for winter. 

Many amongst us have retained and been guided by that story. But grasshopper Pravind clearly has not retained that lesson. In any case, it’s not as if he ever had to work hard in life, whether to earn money or the leadership of his party. 

Here is someone who, in 2004, had found that our pension system was unsustainable when pensions were under Rs2,000 and the number of pensioners was around 175,000 and had thus resorted to “targeting” to remove around 75,000 pensioners from the list of beneficiaries. 

So what did “grasshopper Pravind” do? To get elected, he decided to raise the unsustainable monthly pension of Rs2,000 to Rs5,000 and then to Rs9,000 even though the number of pensioners had increased to around 225,000. More interested in getting elected, he did even better in 2019 by promising to further increase pensions to Rs13,500 if he got elected. In 2015, it was relatively easier for grasshopper Pravind to hold “pensioners’ parties” at the expense of the “ants” because the “ants” had built up substantial stocks through decades of hard work. 

As an indication, during the pre-grasshopper period 2011-2014, average annual petroleum prices were US$95/barrel. Average prices during the years 2015-2017 were US$47/barrel (50% less!). 

Even as recently as 2020, average prices were US$40/barrel. Did grasshopper Pravind use these providential “summer years” to save for “winter”? No, he was not even remotely interested. His only objective was, is and remains to be in power at any cost whilst knowing that the “ants” will end up paying for his “dance parties”. After all, why should someone worry about “winters” when he could now have enough “stocks” for the great grandchildren of his great grandchildren to comfortably get past the harshest “winters”? 

Petroleum prices are predicted by some analysts to reach US$200 or even more if the war in Ukraine continues for long. If that happens, instead of a litre of petrol, Rs61 may not even get us a katori of petrol. Already soaring food prices will inevitably increase further. 

Had we had an ant heading the country during the past seven years, we would have saved substantial amounts for the forthcoming “winters”. Unfortunately (for us), our grasshopper (assisted by a hungry pack of wolves, hyenas and jackals) has already dilapidated the “stocks” built over decades by the ants, whether at the Treasury, BOM, STC, AML, MK and other institutions. 

Any sensible citizen knows that a universal monthly pension of Rs13,500 is unsustainable in the long run, that it would wreck our economy and place unsustainable burdens on future generations i.e. the children and grand-children of those pensioners who are getting carried away by the grasshopper’s promises. Many of the pensioners who voted for the grasshopper and his team of merrymakers also know this. 

So, who will pay for the grasshopper’s merrymaking? 

To start with, it’s the current generation of employees, especially those who are aged between 18 and 55. Because things will have inevitably changed by the time they retire. And then those who are kids today, many of whom are currently unable to get proper meals and basic goodies as a result of increased prices following the orchestrated devaluation of the rupee, will also pay a heavy price. 

Moreover, because of the huge depreciation of the rupee, “ants”, including the pensioners, who had saved some money for “winters” have effectively already lost around 30% of their hard-earned savings. An “ant” who saved (say) one million rupees for “winters” had the equivalent of US$30,000 before the grasshopper started dancing because the dollar was trading at around US$1: Rs32. Today, one million rupees is worth a mere US$22,000 with the dollar trading at around Rs44. 

Amidst all this, the grasshopper-inspired and extraordinarily brilliant “guv’nor” has increased the repo rate by a mere 0.15% even though the “official” inflation rate has already gone up by 8% in the past three years and is likely to increase much further. It’s a real mystery why his brilliance creates so much darkness in the majority of families. Could he actually be a “black hole” sucking in the hard-earned savings of the population, especially the middle class? Or he probably has no choice but to do what he was brought in to do when he was appointed if he wants to keep his job. 

In the original story, the grasshopper rightly paid the price for its merrymaking. In our case, it is the hardworking “ants” that are paying and will continue to pay a very high price. Continued price rises (food items, medication, essentials, petroleum) added to various taxes and levies (CSG, PRGF, higher VAT contributions because of higher prices) will ensure that the poor and the middle class get poorer and poorer. 

In short, the country is upside down and caught in an infernal spiral. But our grasshopper clearly laid down his vision and governance style by openly inviting Mauritians to send their daughters, wives, sisters etc… to be locked in a room with him so he can show his suitability for the post of prime minister. 

The greatest prime minister of all times had announced himself to the whole world in the clearest way possible!