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Wednesday, Nov 23, 2005

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Pension Bill amendments unacceptable, says CITU

Special Correspondent

"Proposals for amendments to the Bill are only cosmetic"

NEW DELHI: The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has described as `unacceptable' the proposals mooted by the Government in the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill.

In a statement CITU general secretary Chittabrata Majumdar said the United Progressive Alliance Government, in a bid to legislate the Bill in the winter session, has put up a few proposals for amendments in it. The amendments are only cosmetic. They, in no way, address the basic concerns of employees and the trade union.

"The proposals only seek to incorporate a few proposals in the main report of the Standing Committee, which vetted the Bill; and the issues raised in the dissenting notes appended by the Members of Parliament from the Left have totally been ignored," the statement said.

The proposal to limit foreign direct investment (FDI) and overseas investment are nothing but to push through opening up of the pension sector to FDI, a dissent note sent by the CITU said.

The note specifically points to Section 20 (f) of the Bill that clearly rules out `any implicit or explicit assurance of benefits except marked based guarantee mechanism' and stated: "This means the fate of the employees in their old age will be determined by the vagaries of the market."

They have also termed the Government's move as one to "dismantle the existing pension system for the Government's own employees and withdrawal of the responsibilities of supporting its own employees after their retirement. This is a retrograde step and in a welfare state disowning this responsibility was unacceptable."

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