THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The central government's stand that the states withdrawing from the contributory partnership pension scheme will not be refunded the amount paid, will be a setback to Kerala in withdrawing from the scheme. There are 1.69 lakh employees in Kerala under the scheme. Rs 7078.75 crore have been paid to the Contributory Pension Fund as their share.

Although the Congress-ruling states Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have decided to withdraw from the pension scheme and sent letters demanding refund of the amount paid, the pension fund rejected this demand. This is when Congress-ruling Himachal Pradesh and AAP-ruled Punjab are about to withdraw. Rs 70,000 crores is in the contributory fund for all five states.

The contributory pension scheme was implemented in the state in 2013. 20 lakh central government employees and 50 lakh state government employees are members of the scheme. Rs 5.5 lakh crore are in the fund as their share. There is no provision in the law for the states to withdraw after joining the pension scheme. Therefore, the amount paid to the fund cannot be refunded. If this is to be implemented, the law will have to be amended. The pressure to withdraw from the pension scheme is intensifying in the state. The ruling parties, including the CPI, have already agreed to this. CPM also agrees with this in principle. All the service organizations in the state are of the stance to withdraw from this.

The report of the committee appointed by the first Pinarayi government to study withdrawal from the contributory pension scheme is under consideration by the government