People's Democracy

(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Vol. XXXIII

No. 17

May 03, 2009

 


                

CITU Calls The New Pension Scheme A Hoax

The following is the text of the statement issued by CITU on April 25, 2009

DURING the election campaign, the government of India announced a new pension scheme to favour the Congress Party in the election.  The announcement has been made by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority which has no statutory backing since the Pension Bill has not yet been passed in the parliament. The Authority has appointed private sector pension fund managers which has paved the way for the privatisation of the pension fund.  ICICI Prudential  Life Insurance Company, IDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd., Kotak Mahendra Asset Management Co., Reliance Capital Asset Management Co. etc., are just getting these huge funds to earn profit at the cost of workers� money. The Fund managers do not guarantee 50 per cent of the last salary drawn by the employee. The defined benefit character of the existing pension scheme will be given a go bye which will become a defined contributory pension scheme only. The money will be invested in the share market. 

The CITU warns the working class that their pension funds will not be safe in the hands of the private fund managers who want to make the pension fund as a profit making venture whose future will be dependent on the vagaries of the share market. 

The worldwide experience of  investing pension fund in share market has resulted in great loss to the working class all over the world with the share market collapse every where. The Indian government has refused to learn from this experience and is still insisting on putting the hard earned money of the working class in the speculative stock market which has been opposed by all the trade unions in the country. The CITU appeals to the working class and trade union movement to oppose this new pension scheme and demands the government of India to withdraw the scheme and improve the existing pension scheme in consultation with the trade unions.