New Delhi: The parliamentary permanent standing committee’s recommendation that a hike in pension commensurate with the age of central government pensioners should be implemented from 65 years onwards instead of 80, is before the active consideration of the Union Finance Ministry.
The Centre informed the Parliament that the central pension department had examined the recommendations in detail and assessed the additional financial liability involved before handing over the proposal to the Finance Ministry.
Currently, a person gets a 20 per cent increase in the basic pension on attaining 80 years of age. If the new recommendations are implemented then there would be a 5 percent increase in basic pension at the age of 65, 10 per cent at 70 years and 15 per cent at 75 years. This has been a long pending demand of the pensioner organisations.
The upper age limit for hike was fixed at 80 plus as per the recommendations of the sixth Central Pay Revision Commission. The parliamentary standing committee has observed that pensioners should be provided circumstances where they can live on their own without becoming a burden to anyone.
Increase in pension age will not restore old pension scheme (OPS)
The central government has made it clear that it is not planning to increase the pension age. The centre informed the parliament that it would not bring back Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in place of the National Pension Scheme (NPS. The old central civil service pension (1972) is applicable only to those who entered the service up to December 31, 2003.
All pensioners to be brought under one umbrella
The parliamentary standing committee has recommended that all central pensioners including those in defence, railways, telecom, postal sectors should be brought under the purview of central pension department. The committee has directed that the feasibility report of the proposal should be submitted within three months. At the moment many of these pension schemes are under the pension rules of respective departments.
Existing hike in pension in the order of age , increase;
80 years – 20 per cent
85years – 30 percent
90-95 years – 40 percent
100 years - 50 percent
Recommendation of the standing committee of parliament;
65 years - 5 percent
70- 10 percent
75 years – 15 percent