CABINET DEFERS DECISION ON PENSION REFORMS
BILL
Amid differences among allies, the government on
Thursday deferred a decision on the changes in the crucial Pension Fund Regulatory
and Development Authority Bill, 2011.
“It
(the PFRDA Bill) was taken up and deferred”, said a Minister after the Cabinet
meeting in New Delhi.
Among
the UPA allies, Trinamool Congress has been quite vociferous in opposing the
pension and insurance reforms.
Railway
Minister Mukul Roy, who represents TMC in the UPA government, did not speak on
the issue during the Cabinet meeting, sources said.
The
Cabinet, as per the agenda, was scheduled to approve changes in the PFRDA Bill
in light of the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance, to pave
way for passage of the bill in Monsoon session of Parliament next month.
The
Cabinet, sources said, was required to take a view on the proposal of ensuring
assured returns to pension fund subscribers, as suggested by the Committee,
headed by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha.
The PFRDA Bill, which has been
pending for several years, seeks to open the pension sector to private sector
and foreign investment.
The proposed legislation was introduced in the Lok Sabha
on March 24, 2011.
The
PFRDA Bill provides for establishment of a statutory authority to undertake
promotional, developmental and regulatory functions in respect to pension
funds.
Interim PFRDA is functioning since
2003 through an executive order.
PFRDA, set up as a regulatory body
for pension sector, is yet to get statutory powers as the Bill pertaining to
that effect lapsed in Parliament with the expiry of last Lok Sabha in 2009.
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