Government, BJP agree on pension bill

In a major initiative to ensure passage of the pension bill, the government has agreed to bring three amendments to allay the fears of the principal opposition party, the BJP, as well as UPA ally Trinamool Congress.

In a major initiative to ensure passage of the pension bill, the government has agreed to bring three amendments to allay the fears of the principal opposition party, the BJP, as well as UPA ally Trinamool Congress.

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Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee met the BJP’s LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Yashwant Sinha on Monday and a broad agreement on the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PRFDA) Bill was reportedly reached.

Mukherjee also sent the amendments to the Trinamool.

The first amendment says, “If the subscriber wishes to seek secured returns, he’d be allowed to invest 100% of his funds in a scheme that invests in government securities only, to give a comfort that there is a sovereign guarantee for risk-averse subscribers of the New Pension Scheme.”

The second is for “fixing FDI ceiling of 26% for pension funds in the PFRDA Bill itself on par with the insurance bill”. The BJP wanted the 26% cap detailed in the bill itself, instead of bringing it through an executive decision in the rules.

The final amendment permits “withdrawal from individual pension account subject to conditions”.

BJP leaders said acceptance of their demands could prompt the Left parties to reconsider their opposition to the bill. The Trinamool said it was looking into the amendments.

“We want to bring the pension bill in this session (of Parliament),” parliamentary affairs minister PK Bansal said.