Pension Schemes

The Indian government has formed a panel to review the country's pension system and discuss whether changes are warranted, the finance ministry said on Thursday

"The approach will be designed for adoption by both the central government and state governments," the finance minister said

As many as 1,20,279 persons have applied online to opt for higher pension under Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) till March 9, 2023, Parliament was informed on Thursday. In November last year, the Supreme Court had asked the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to give four months time to subscribers as well as pensioners to contribute on their actual salaries towards EPS-95. Many EPFO subscribers have been contributing on threshold (pensionable salary) of Rs 15,000 per month which is less than their actual pay. This option will enable beneficiaries to get higher pension eventually. "Till 09.03.2023, 1,20,279 applications/ joint options were applied online at Unified Portal of EPFO by the employees," Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. The total number of beneficiaries in accordance with the directions given in the Supreme Court judgement of November 4, 2022 will depend upon the employees exercising the

Against an enrollment target of 10 mn beneficiaries in each of the financial years starting 2020-21, only 522,868 workers were enrolled in the scheme in the past three years till Dec 2022

Their protest is continuing from 2018 in Buldhana in Maharashtra

Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has expressed his concern over the decision of some states to restart the old pension scheme and suggested that some less costly ways should be found to address the demands of government pensioners. Rajan further said the old pension scheme does involve massive future outlays because of the indexation of pensions to current salaries. "This is an enormous obligation, not necessarily in the short run, but in the long run," he said, adding obviously, state governments have to think through the long-term implications for government finances, and whether civil servants are the most in need of help among the constituencies they deal with. Rajan, currently Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said as he understands it, it may be infeasible technically or legally to move back to the old pension scheme. "If so, there may be less costly ways of addressing the concerns that .

What happened in the 2014 amendment? What did the Supreme Court say in its judgement? And above all, are you eligible for the scheme? This explainer tries to answer all these queries

The Himachal Pradesh government made the necessary budgetary provisions before announcing restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Tuesday. The Himachal Cabinet approved restoration of the scheme during its first meeting after careful deliberations, he said in a statement. All other promises guaranteed by the Congress in its 'Pratigya Patra' ahead of the assembly elections will be fulfilled in a phased manner after making adequate financial provisions. The chief minister also hit out at the previous BJP dispensation for allegedly failing to clear arrears of employees despite announcing implementation of the Pay Commission recommendations. The haphazard decisions taken by the BJP government were unwanted and uncalled for, he said. Apart from a whopping loan amount of Rs 75,000 crore, the BJP has left Rs 11,000 crore as outstanding arrears to be paid to government employees and pensioners. The BJP regime handed over an empty coffer to the

Unimpressed Oppn says Budget has nothing for poor, unemployed

Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) on Monday said more than 5 crore people have enrolled under Atal Pension Yojana (APY), the ?agship social security scheme of the central government. The scheme has done very well in the calendar year 2022 by enrolling more than 1.25 crore new subscribers in comparison to 92 lakh new subscriber's enrolment in the calendar year 2021, PFRDA said in a statement. Till date, 29 banks have already surpassed the annual target allocated by the government of India, it said. In the public sector bank category, Bank of India, State Bank of India and Indian Bank have achieved the allocated targets, while in the Regional Rural Bank (RRB) category, 21 banks have achieved the allocated targets, with the highest achievement by Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank, Vidharbha Konkan Gramin Bank and Baroda UP Bank, it said. PFRDA, in line with the saturation drive as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech of 2021, took ..

In an interview to online portal on sidelines of World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, Rajan said that reason why new pension scheme was adopted because in old scheme, huge liabilities had built up

The Supreme Court and High Courts in various decisions have appreciated the role of armed forces in safeguarding our country

The court further directed the Centre to issue necessary orders within eight weeks for the same

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is to unveil on Tuesday a highly sensitive pension overhaul aimed at pushing up the retirement age that has already prompted vigorous criticism and calls for protests from leftist opponents and worker unions. The minimum retirement age to be entitled to a full pension is expected to be gradually increased from 62 to 64 or 65, in line with a longstanding pledge by President Emmanuel Macron. Details are to be released by Borne at a news conference. The government argues that French people live longer than they used to and therefore need to work longer to make the pension system financially sustainable. All French workers receive a state pension. Centre-left and hard-left worker unions unanimously expressed their disapproval of the proposed changes after talks with Borne last week. Some are in favour of an increase in payroll contributions paid by employers instead. The country's eight main worker unions are gathering on Tuesday to set the date o

The government on Thursday said it is examining a Supreme Court judgement which upheld Employees' Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014 and allowed employees to opt for enhanced pension coverage alongside their employers in four months' time. "Yes, sir. The directions of the Supreme Court in the judgment are under examination," Minister of State for Labour & Employment Rameswar Teli said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. Teli was replying to a question on whether the government is aware about the Supreme Court verdict of November 4 on EPF pension scheme and by when it will implement the verdict and instruct the EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) to take actions for giving higher pension. In another written reply, Teli said the court judgement has legal, financial, actuarial and logistical implications. The scheme has provided for an extension of four months' time for eligible employees to opt for enhanced pension. The apex court order provides that employees who were ...

Pension payments as a percentage of revenue receipts of states increased from 2 per cent in 1980-81 to 11 per cent in 1999-2000

Agitators seek dearness relief as scheme component to ensure equitable pension; want adherence to provisions of CMPS 1998 on review and revision of pension every three years

The demand was made during Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's meeting with RSS leaders that took place between Nov 21 and Nov 29

As Satpal, 78, attends to customers, an animated discussion is on outside his grocery shop in Kasumpti Bazar. They are debating the old pension scheme, which has emerged as a key election issue. The Congress has promised to restore the old pension scheme (OPS), if voted to power in Himachal Pradesh after the November 12 assembly polls in the state. The OPS will benefit retired employees in a big way, feel most of the people in the group discussing the issue outside Satpal's shop named 'Himlaxmi'. But one person seems to differ, asking how the government will generate resources for it. There are about 2.5 lakh government employees in the state, and out of them 1.5 lakh are covered under the New Pension Scheme. There have been protests earlier by employees' associations against the new scheme in Shimla, Mandi, Kangra and Solan. The old pension scheme, under which the entire pension amount was given by the government, was discontinued in the country from April 1, 2004. According to t

Retired Employees Association says nearly 270,000 pensioners are getting less than Rs 2,000 a month as pension