Members of the Andhra Pradesh Contributory Pension Scheme Employees’ Association (AP CPSEA) on August 27 (Tuesday) outrightly rejected the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) rolled out by the Centre.
In a statement, they said if an employee, after serving the government for 35-40 years, opted for the UPS, it was as good as handing over all his money in his Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) to the government without any benefit. They said if the government was sincere about the employees’ welfare, it should implement pension scheme without deducting any contribution from them. They called the State government’s “Guaranteed Pension Scheme” a deception.
They said under the current NPS, if the 60% lump sum amount received after retirement was invested in mutual funds, the returns from the Systemic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) would be five times more than the pension provided by the government. They said they did not want any such plans and urged the government to restore the Old Pension Scheme.
“Pension is not a charity or money that comes through plans. It is a fundamental right of the employee. The UPS undermines this right of the employees,” said general secretary of the association C.M. Das. Asking who would benefit by investing 28.5% in the stock market for decades, he said implementation of the Old Pension Scheme was more financially viable for the government than investing their money in the stock markets for decades.
The association president K. Satish cited many flaws in the UPS and said the primary issue was that of clarity. “Will the government take the entire PRAN amount and provide 50% pension with Dearness Relief or 60% of the PRAN amount would be given, as in the current NPS. Clarity has not yet emerged on the mode of payment, in what form and by whom,’‘ he said .
The association members reiterated their demand for restoration of the Old Pension Scheme.