Old Pension Scheme should be Restored, so that All the Retired Employees or their Family Members can get Pension/Financial benefit- AJKLTF

Anantnag, November 30, 2021: The state unit of the All Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh Teachers Federation aft. Akhil Bhartiya Rashtriya Shakshik Mahasangh Jammu Kashmir  (AJKLTF/ABRSM) has appealed to the state government to convert the new pension scheme to old pension scheme for the welfare of the retired employees and their family members.

In a statement here today the JKUT President Devraj Thakur,  stated that the government employees recruited on or after 1 January, 2004 are not eligible for the old pension scheme and are forced to opt for the new scheme.

“Since January 2004, the central government has imposed a new pension system NPS for government employees recruited after December 31, 2003 to replace the one under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972. The new pension scheme does not provide the guarantee of minimum pension on last basic salary drawn by the employees,” said Devraj Thakur, president of the AJKLTF/ABRSM JKUT unit.

National Pension Scheme does not have the provision for inclusion of revised dearness allowance in the pension, he said. Whereas, the old scheme allowed employees to get benefits of revision of dearness allowance announced twice a year, said Thakur.

Thakur said the family members of the government employees will not get any financial benefit/pension under the new pension scheme and hence the old pension scheme should be restored, so that all the retired employees or their family members can get pension/financial benefit.

As per the new pension scheme, he said, 10 percent contribution each from the employee and the employer is accumulated in the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority under the Central Record Agency. After the superannuation of an employee, only 60 percent of the accumulated fund can be withdrawn by the employee after deducting GST, and the remaining 40 percent is invested in the share market through private companies, Thakur said.

He further stated that the profit obtained from the share market is given as pension to the employee.

He said that under the new pension system, employees were getting pension merely between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000. Apart from this, the process to withdraw Contributory Pension Fund had become cumbersome. The pension was the only monetary support the employee had after retirement and depriving employees of this was unjustified.

“If the shares show positive, then there is a chance of getting something by the employee, and if the share goes down, there is no chance of getting any amount. Whereas in the old pension scheme, 50 percent of the last pay drawn by a retired employee is calculated as guaranteed retirement pension/salary with addition of DA as and when declared by the government from time to time. After the demise of the retired employee, the nominee gets 50 percent of the total amount drawn by the retired employee as family pension or social security,” he said.

“It is crystal clear from these facts that there is guaranteed benefit for the employee and their nominee in the old pension scheme while there is nothing good for the employees in the new pension scheme,” the AJKLTF leader said, and requested the Hon,able  Lt. Governor to restore the old pension scheme in Jammu Kashmir.

The AJKLTF/ABRSM is against the share market linked pension system for the central and state government employees, he said.