Letter to BS: For decades govts have been manipulating fiscal numbers

Transparency in accounting will boost institutional morale leading to a rise in public trust in the government and the financial system

This refers to your editorial “The pension deficit” (October 23). The observation — “the government tends to postpone expenditure to the extent possible and this is not restricted to one particular area. This practice must end because it doesn’t help achieve anything” — is a revealing statement that needs immediate attention of everyone who has anything to do with financial accounting in India. The introduction of the National Pension System or NPS (originally New Pension Scheme, December 2003) itself has an accounting jugglery background. When the government pension schemes were following a “pay as you go” accounting practice and unfunded