Despite protests from the Left, the contributory pension system for government employess seems set to roll from June next year with fund managers UTI Mutual Fund, State Bank of India and LIC having the option to invest up to 15% of the funds in equities.
The risk averse have the option to invest their entire pension corpus in government securities with assured returns.
But once Parliament clears a Bill to set up Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority, those covered by the scheme would have the option to invest up to 50% of the corpus in stock markets. And, private sector employees would also have the option to have a longterm investment scheme, something that they do not have at present due to Left's opposition. Under the equity option, from June, 5% corpus will be invested directly in stock markets while 10% will flow into in equity linked mutual funds, and the balance in government security-related funds.
National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) will issue Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) on the pattern of PAN card to each pension account holder, provide annual statements and act as an operational interface between PFRDA and fund managers.
The contributory pension system -- where central government employees joining after January 1, 2004, have been setting aside 10% of their basic salary with the employer chipping in with a similar contribution -- has so far seen a kitty of around Rs 2,000 crore build-up. TNN
