Uncertain futures

What is worrying is that this estimate of pension debt is only for 23.6 million employees. It does not include the nearly 1 million defence employees, roughly 2 million defence pensioners or the existing 2 million family pensioners. Nor does it include the Rs 19,000 crore unfunded gap of the Employees Pension Scheme. Many countries have been known to renege on pension commitments when faced with fiscal stress. The huge liability suggests that in India too, existing government employees, especially those working in state governments and autonomous bodies such as schools and colleges, could face difficulties in the future.

In his recent Walk the Talk interview on NDTV 24/7 last week, former minister in the NDA government Yashwant Sinha told the Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta that the BJP could consider supporting the Pensions Fund Regulatory Development Authority PFRDA bill should the Congress ask for its support. The bill, which will make the New Pension System possible, will close the tap so that new recruits do not add to the pension liability. In the light of the high liabilities, the Congress owes it to its employees to secure their future and do everything it can to get the PFRDA bill passed.