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Journalism of Courage
The National Pension System (NPS), managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and designed to unburden the Central government and state governments of huge future pension liabilities, has received a setback as two states, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, have walked out of the system after participating in it for the last few years.
Sources confirmed that both the states, ruled by the Congress, have stopped contributing any funds from their side to the NPS since April 1. “Yes, both the governments have stopped the payment. Now, whatever the funds they had contributed earlier will be taken care of by us,’’ said an official, adding that there are no legal ways through which the PFRDA can return the funds whatever have been contributed by these two states.
All other states except Tamil Nadu and West Bengal had participated in the NPS and the last state that had joined the NPS was Tripura.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue a directive to the PFRDA to refund the money deposited towards the NPS since November 2004 by the state government along with accruals. Baghel made this demand after the PFRDA rejected the state government’s request to withdraw Rs 17,240 crore accrued under the NPS.
The state government has decided to reinstate the old pension scheme (OPS) “in the interest of government officials and employees.” Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairperson, PFRDA, said the total assets under NPS have touched Rs 35 trillion and currently has an AUM of Rs 7.4 trillion with 5.33 crore subscribers across central and state government corporates and retail subscribers.
Bandyopadhyay said equity schemes under NPA have given a return of 11.92 per cent while the corporate bonds have provided a return of 9.21 per cent. Three new players, Tata Asset Management, Axis Bank and Max Financial have joined as new pension fund managers recently and will start their operations shortly.
Bandyopadhyay hinted that the PFRDA is working out plans to launch a guaranteed pension scheme, which can be linked to government securities and can also be made floating and may be launched by September.
