Railway Minister has written a do letter to Finance Minister for abolishing New Pension System - AIRF & NFIR
HON’BLE
MINISTER FOR RAILWAYS SH. MALIKARJUN KHARGE HAS WRITTEN A DO LETTER TO
MINISTER FOR FINANCE FOR ABOLISHING NEW PENSION SYSTEM (NPS) FROM INDIAN
RAILWAYS.
MINISTER FOR RAILWAYS
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
NEW DELHI
No. 2012/F(E)III/1/4-Part
29 MAR 2014
Dear
Shri P. Chidambaram ji,Through
this letter, I wish to draw your attention to a long standing demand
raised by both Staff Federations of Railways on National Pension Scheme
(NPS) for employees of Indian Railways. The Federations have been
expressing resentment over operation in the Railways of the National
Pension Scheme, which is perceived as a lower social security cover for
Railway employees. Their contention is that there are enough grounds for
Railway employees to be treated differently from other civil employees
of the Government, and that Indian Railways should operate the
traditional defined benefit pension scheme available to pre-01-01-2004
appointees.
You will recall that a few organizations/categories
of Government employees were specifically exempted from the purview of
NPS on consideration of special, riskier and more onerous nature of
duties. The Federations have been drawing parallel with of nature of
duties performed by most categories of Railway employees with those in
the Armed Forces. They contend that during British period, Railways was
conceived and operated as an auxiliary wing of the Army. It was also
realized that by virtue of its complex nature, Railways required a high
level of discipline and efficiency to be able to perform its role as the
prime transport mode. Railways is an operational organization required
to be run round the clock through the year. Railway employees have to
work in inhospitable conditions, braving extreme weather, unfriendly law
and order scenario, and inherent risks associated with the Railway
operations itself. As in the Armed Forces, many have to stay away from
their families for long periods while performing duties in areas where
adequate facilities are lacking.
I feel that there is
considerable merit in the contention of the Staff Federations. Besides
the critical and complex nature of duties of Railway employees, the
hazards involved are also high. Despite best efforts for enhanced safety
measures, a large number of Railway employees lose their lives or meet
with serious injuries in the course of performance of their duties each
year.
During the period 2007-08 to October 2011, the number of
Railway employees killed during the course of their duty has been more
than number of passengers/other members of public killed in Rail related
accidents including accidents at unmanned level crossings. While the
nature of duties of Railway employees is inherently high risk during
peace time, they also perform functions of critical importance during
war time and times of natural calamities, in moving men and materials
across the country to maintain supply of essential commodities and
safeguard integrity of the nation.
In my view, there are adequate
grounds for the Government to consider exemption for Railway employees
from the purview of NPS. The Implications of this would be that
Government expenditure would reduce over the next few years through
discontinuance of Government Contribution under the NPS, but the long
term liabilities would increase, as financial commitments in the defined
benefit pension scheme would be higher. Since Railways are required to
meet the pensionary outgo from their internal resources, switchover to
defined benefit pension scheme would call for a more systematic
provisioning under the Pension Fund through appropriate revenue
generating measures. With Rail Tariff Authority on the horizon, I
believe that this would be possible.
In the light of the above, I
suggest that our request for exemption from operation of the NPS be
considered sympathetically and necessary approvals communicated.
A copy of each demands raised by the two Federations is enclosed.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
sd/-
(Mallikarjun Kharge)
Shri P.Chidambaram,
Finance Minister,
Government of India,
North Block,
New Delhi-110001.
Source: AIRF & NFIR
