The government has decided in principle to implement contributory pension scheme for its employees from the next fiscal. A Government Order (GO) in this regard was issued by the Finance Department on Thursday.
The order issued by Principal Secretary (Finance) said the government is taking the decision to achieve fiscal consolidation in the state. It has been decided in principle that the new pension scheme shall be introduced with effect from April 1, 2013, which shall be applicable to all appointments made thereafter.
The Chief Secretary is assigned the task of preparing and submitting to the council of ministers a comprehensive report on surplus posts in government departments. When the new posts are created in future, such requirements shall be met from this surplus pool. The posts may be redesignated, if required.
The GO proposes to conduct a comprehensive study on the projects, commissions, agencies, institutions etc. which have lost relevance, but still are functioning in the state.
Answering a query while briefing the Cabinet decisions, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the decision would not affect the existing employees. The scheme is meant for those employees who would be appointed in government service from the next fiscal. All the states except Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura had already implemented contributory pension, he said.
However, the implementation of the scheme would not benefit the state in the initial phase. Besides paying the pension to the existing employees, the government would have to contribute its share for the newly recruited employees.
However, he said the government had not taken any decision on linking the contributory pension with raising the pension age. “We have to evolve a consensus before taking any decision on raising the pension age,” he said. Asked whether there would be a ban on fresh recruitment, he rejected the view and said it was about deploying surplus employees while implementing digital governance in the state.
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