The 20-year battle against NPS is finally won: Dr.N.Kanniah

INN/Chennai, @Infodeaofficial

Before 2004, employees of the Central Government and the Railways were covered by the Pension Scheme, which provided that, upon superannuation, 50% of the last “Pension” was defined as drawn basic salary plus the necessary Dearness Relief. However, as of April 1, 2004, a “New Pension Scheme” was implemented, with no assurance regarding the possible pension amount for an employee. When a New Pension When the plan was presented, SRMU was the first group to object to it.

After thereafter, in addition to SRMU & AIRF, other State and Central Government Workers’ unions and JCM constituents took part in a number of protests, including Over the past 20 years, there have been protest meetings, relay hunger fasts, etc. A “Nation wide Indefinite Strike Notice” was issued by AIRF/SRMU led JCM constituents on March 1st of last year. The Central Government then established a committee, which is currently led by the Cabinet Secretary, who was the Finance Secretary at the time.

T.V. Somanathan,  Following three rounds of deliberation, the Central Government decided to amend the NPS and provide a pension equal to 50% of the most recent pay. According to Dr. N. Kanniah, a final round of discussions was held with the presence of Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, Cabinet Secretary, T.V. Somanathan. The discussions lasted for more than an hour, and following the conclusion of the discussion, the following decisions were made. Instead of NPS, GPS (Guaranteed Pension) Scheme will be introduced with Assured Pension.

1. From 01-04-2025, instead of NPS, Guaranteed Pension Scheme shall come into effect.

2. Those who are presently covered under NPS, should exercise an option, either to continue in NPS or to switch over to GPS.

3. Those who opt for GPS, at the end of 25 years, when they retire from service, 50% of the Last 12 months Average Basic Pay, will be granted as Pension. To them, the present Central Government contribution shall be reduced from 14% to 10%.

4. In case, if an employee covered under GPS, passes away, then the family members will get 60% of the GPS pension as family pension.

5. Persons receiving GPS pension and GPS family pension, will get Dearness Relief, as per the prevailing price index.

6. If a person covered under GPS, retires from service, after completing 10 years of service, then he or she, will get minimum pension of Rs.10,000/-and currently a Dearness Relief of Rs.10,000/-. Thus, minimum pension under GPS will be Rs.15,000/-.

7. If a person wants to continue under NPS, for them, the Central Government contribution shall continue at 14%. In case, if they get more pension, then, what is available under GPS, they can avail the same, however, they will not get minimum benefit under GPS.

In response to the topic of why the OPS scheme’s demands were not fully met and why only Assured Pension and Family Pension are being paid, Dr. N. Kanniah stated that no working class demand or effort can ever be fully successful in the beginning. He added that in order to fully accomplish the aim through talks, we must first fulfil the primary targets. Only then can we gradually improve the demands.

The Old Pension Scheme originally had a 35-year minimum service requirement. However, after persistent negotiations in each pay commission, the minimum service requirement was lowered to 30 years and 20 years. At first, the pension was calculated as 30% of the last basic wage received. This was raised to 25%, 40%, and ultimately 50% of the most recent basic pay that was drawn. In a similar vein, Dr. N. Kanniah expressed his hope that GPS may also be improved in some way.

DR. Kanniah claims that after the NPS discussions, the Prime Minister asked whether there were any other concerns regarding Central Government employees. During that time, Dr. Kanniah provided a thorough description of the challenges faced by around a lakh workers of Southern and other Southside Railways, who have been attempting to be transferred to their home states for the past fifteen years. He said he had talked about the problems these brothers and sisters were having because they had changed the way they ate and could no longer speak to each other in their mother tongue. He also asked the Hon’ble Prime Minister to carry out RRB/RRC recruitments locally, as was done during the British rule, in response to their challenges resulting from family separation and other issues.

According to Dr. N. Kanniah, the Hon’ble Prime Minister gave the Cabinet Secretary instructions to take into account the issues he raised and to come up with a plan for the brothers and sisters who are demanding transfers from other states. Dr. N. Kanniah, the President of the Air Force and General Secretary of the SRMU, was present when this declaration was made at a news conference. There were also SRMU President Shri. C.A. Raj Sridhar, Assistant General Secretary Shri. G. Eswarlal, and Secretary of the MAS Division, Shri. Paul Maxwell Johnson.