Hon'ble Minister for Railways Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge has written
a D.O. Letter to Minister for Finance regarding abolition of New Pension Scheme
(NPS) from Indian Railways.
The contents of the letter published by AIRF, are reproduced here
below:-
MALLIKARJUN KHARGE
MINISTER FOR RAILWAYS
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
NEW DELHI
No. 2012/F(E)III/1/4-Part
29 March, 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
appointee's.
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, switch over 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
Khagre)
Shri P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister,
Government of India, North Block,
New Delhi-110001.
[Source: www.airfindia.com]
