Govt. employees pinning hopes on DMK govt. for restoring old pension scheme

‘The new pension scheme is totally against the interests of government employees’

Buoyed by the announcements of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh governments to restore the old pension scheme for State government employees, their counterparts in Tamil Nadu are pinning hopes on the DMK government to fulfill its electoral assurance to replace the New Pension Scheme. In addition to the two states, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has announced that a committee will be set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary for restoring the old pension scheme.

“The new pension scheme is totally against the interests of government employees. By reviving the old pension scheme, the government will not lose anything,” contended P. Frederic Engels, State coordinator of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) Abolition Movement.

He also pointed out that some beneficial provisions of even the CPS were not implemented in Tamil Nadu. “The CPS in Tamil Nadu does not offer gratuity on superannuation and if a government employee happens to die while in service, the family pension is not granted under the CPS. Only after realising all these, the DMK made the assurance [to restore the old pension scheme] in its election manifesto in 2016, 2019 and 2021 elections,” he said.

G. Venkatesan, one of the coordinators of the Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations and Government Employees Organisations (JACTTO -GEO) said the State government employees have been waiting for long for this demand to be implemented.

“Since the Tamil Nadu government has not signed an agreement with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA, a regulatory body under the Union Ministry of Finance), it would be easy to revive the old pension scheme. When Rajasthan, which has signed an agreement with the PFRDA can do it, it would certainly be easy for Tamil Nadu,” he contended.

A retired IAS officer, who served as the Finance Secretary for many years, said these State governments have only made the announcement. “So far no one has reversed NPS. We have to wait and see. To my knowledge it is not feasible but if implemented it will be disastrous.”

According to the policy note of the Finance Department for 2021-22, over 5.88 lakh employees, who were recruited on or after April 1, 2003 are enrolled under the Contributory Pension Scheme better known as the new pension scheme. Over 22,000 employees recruited after April 1, 2003 have exited from the Contributory Pension Scheme on attaining the age of superannuation and other reasons.