Interim pension regulator PFRDA said it would soon link all citizen pension schemes with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) to ensure that each of the beneficiaries becomes entitled to a pension. Secretary-level discussions have commenced between the Finance Ministry and Rural Development ministry in this regard,because the MNREGS falls under the direct jurisdiction of the latter,Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) Executive Director P K Tiwari said at an Assocham conference. "The process will take a little more time before a policy decision is taken in this regard," hinted Tiwari. According to him,each beneficiary of the MNREGS will have to open an account in a bank and deposit a minimum of Rs 1,000-Rs 1,200 every year,clearly telling the banks concerned that this money should be transferred to National Security Depository Limited (NSDL),which will issue a number to the beneficiary of the MNREGS scheme. Initially,the government launched the National Pension System (NPS) for central government employees joining service from January 1,2004,but it was later extended to all citizens from May 1,2009. The government will contribute an equal amount in such accounts so that pension benefits are ensured for the common man,said Tiwari,hinting that the current outgo of the central government on the MGNREGS,which works out to be Rs 70,000 crore per annum,may be hiked to ensure that the NPS covers everybody in the lower strata of society. On the issue of parking surplus funds of pension fund managers in infrastructure and equities,Tiwari clarified that the regulator will not advice the pension fund managers to place a part of their funds in speculative channels to ensure that public money is not wasted.
