Kerala government's new scheme; Employees left without clarity on assured pension

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Left Front government has kept its promise to implement a new pension scheme instead of the contributory pension. However, the employees are worried without getting any clarity.

The order states that there will be DR with pension and that half of the last salary will be paid as pension. It is not clear whether the amount that is the employee's share, including basic salary and DA, will be considered as salary. It is also not known whether the employee's share will remain at 10 percent.

It is also not clear whether the government's share will increase or remain the same. It is also not clear how the shortfall will be found if adding the government's share and the employee's share does not amount to fifty percent of the final basic salary. It is important to know whether the Tamil Nadu model, in which the government bears the shortfall, will be adopted. The order also does not say anything about the mechanism for managing the government's share and the employee's share as a separate fund. In NPS, this amount is entrusted to the central government. It is also to be seen whether the NPS model will be adopted.

There is also no answer to the question of how to withdraw the amount taken towards the participatory pension when switching to an assured pension. It is also unclear whether half the pension is guaranteed even if the service in assured pension is low. Employees are also concerned about minimum pension, death cum retirement gratuity, family pension, terminal surrender and pension reforms.