Pensions

The government has announced setting up of a four-member committee to review the National Pension Scheme (NPS)

The percentage of people from these groups expecting a "comfortable" retirement is also greater

The meeting is also likely to focus on the steps to widen the social security organisation's coverage to embrace about 100 million workers and address the dip in its corpus

The Rajasthan government on Saturday announced a 4 per cent increase in the dearness allowance of the state employees and pensioners. The pensioners and state government employees will now receive a 42 per cent dearness allowance (DA) with effect from January 1, 2023. Earlier, 38 per cent DA was being given to them. The decision will benefit about 8 lakh state employees and 4.40 lakh pensioners, according to an official release. Apart from the state employees, this benefit will also be payable to the work-charged, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad employees. The state government will bear a financial burden of about Rs 1,640 crore annually with this increase. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the central government announced a DA, but it is implemented after a long time, while the Rajasthan government ensures immediate payment of the increased amount along with the announcement.

Lakhs of Maharashtra government employees on Wednesday continued their strike on the second day to demand the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), a day after Chief minister Eknath Shinde appealed to them to resume work. Smooth functioning in government hospitals and offices was affected due to the agitation. Vishwas Katkar, the convenor of the committee of nearly 35 state government employees, semi-government employees and teachers, said employees from 36 districts have joined the ongoing strike. He rejected Shinde's appeal made in the Assembly on Tuesday and insisted that their demands be met. On Monday, Shinde had also announced a panel comprising senior bureaucrats to look into the demand of state government employees to revert to the Old Pension Scheme. The panel will give its report in a time-bound manner, he said. Katkar said the state government employees held similar protests in 2018, following which a panel was formed but there was no movement on its report. The .

"The state government is working to provide employment to our youth while also providing better healthcare to the general public," the chief minister added

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday said that his government has increased the amount given under old age pension to Rs 1500 from Rs 1200

The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday decided to implement the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) from April 1 in the state, according to an official statement issued here. The Himachal cabinet, which was presided by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, gave its nod to the implementation of the OPS which would put a burden of Rs 1,000-crore on the state exchequer, it said. The cabinet also approved the repealing of Himachal Pradesh Loktantra Prahari Samman Adhiniyam, 2021, and Himachal Pradesh Loktantra Prahari Samman Niyam, 2022, providing a monthly pension of Rs 11,000 per month to persons who were jailed during the Emergency, it said. The cabinet decided that the employees will also be brought under the ambit of General Provident fund (GPF), the statement said. The employees under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), who have retired after May 15, 2003, will be given OPS from the prospective date. The decision would put a burden of Rs 1,000-crore on the state exchequer during 2023-24 ...

Representatives of the Haryana government employees seeking restoration of the Old Pension Scheme held a meeting with a state government committee on Friday as they remained steadfast in their demand. The Haryana government had last month formed a committee to hold discussions with representatives of employees demanding the restoration of the OPS. The government employees' body 'Pension Bahali Sangharsh Samiti' led by Vijender Dhariwal told reporters here after the meeting that they again drove home their point how restoration of OPS will benefit the employees. Dhariwal said like in their last meeting with government representatives before the committee was set up, they again pointed out various "flaws" under the New Pension Scheme. He said during the meeting, they presented facts and figures showing how NPS was not in interest of the employees. "We also clearly told them that the perception that restoration of OPS will put any heavy financial burden on the state exchequer is not .

Be prepared for claw back from EPF to EPS if you go for joint option scheme

A group of ex-servicemen moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre that arrears of the One Rank-One Pension scheme be paid to all eligible pensioners in one installment instead of four installments. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala is scheduled to take up the application filed by Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) through advocate Balaji Srinivasan for hearing on February 27. The military veterans association has also sought the setting aside of the Centre's communication dated January 20, 2023 issued by the Ministry of Defence. The communication had said that "arrears on account of revision of pension from July 1, 2019 till date of its implementation shall be paid by the Pension Disbursing Agencies in four yearly installments. However, all the family pensioners including those in receipt of special/liberalized family pension and all gallantry award winners shall be paid arrears in one installment". The ex-servicem

Retirement fund body EPFO on Monday came out with a procedure to enable subscribers and their employers to jointly apply for higher pension under Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS). Earlier in November 2022, the Supreme Court had upheld Employees Pension (Amendment) Scheme 2014. The EPS amendment of August 22, 2014 had raised the pensionable salary cap to Rs 15,000 a month from Rs 6,500 a month, and allowed members along with their employers to contribute 8.33 per cent of their actual salaries (if it exceeded the cap) towards the EPS. In an office order, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) provided for dealing with the 'Joint Option Form' by field offices of the body. EPFO stated that "a facility will be provided for which URL (unique resource location) will be informed shortly. Once received, the regional PF commissioner shall put adequate notice on the notice board and banners for wider public information". It provided that each application will be registered, digitall

No revision in 25 yrs due to resistance from central trade union representatives, says coal minister

The economics and politics behind the old versus new pension scheme as elections loom

The faith displayed by employees in a future government's ability to pay pension is perplexing when stories abound of state governments having difficulty in paying salaries

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said the state government is positive about the Old Pension Scheme for teachers and government employees. He said the state education department is studying the OPS. Addressing a campaign rally for upcoming Legislative Council polls, Shinde also said the state government will respond to allegations raised by the Opposition regarding investment proposals inked at the recently-held Davos summit by its work. "The government is positive about Old Pension Scheme for teachers and government employees, non-aided schools, and also for 25 per cent reservation in English medium schools. The education department is studying the OPS," he added. Speaking about the Davos summit, he said some foreign companies, instead of making a direct investment, prefer to go in for joint ventures. "Hence many industrialists at the Davos conference are from India. But it will be foreign investment," he added. The chief minister questioned the status of MoU

In a country with an aging population and growing life expectancy where everyone receives a state pension, Macron's government says the reform is the only way to keep the system solvent

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hailed the Himachal Pradesh government's decision to restore the Old Pension Scheme in its first cabinet meeting, saying the "Congress means trust". The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday approved the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme in its first cabinet meeting, calling it a "Lohri gift" to 1.36 lakh employees who currently are under the New Pension Scheme. The Congress had promised to take a decision to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) at the first meeting of the government and it stood by the promise. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said the Congress had brought back the OPS in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and now Himachal Pradesh. A committee was also constituted (in Himachal) to implement 'Har Ghar Lakshmi' - a scheme to provide Rs 1500 per month to women in 30 days. Congress means trust," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

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