The contributory pension scheme in various autonomous bodies and corporations of the state government is in poor shape. In case the scheme is not managed properly, employees retiring in the future may end up without pension, sources said.
The contributory pension scheme of Kangra Cooperative Bank, one of the biggest cooperative banks of the state, has already been stopped. The pension to former employees of the bank has been stopped.
The current management of the bank maintains that there is hardly any fund left in the pension scheme. The retired employees whose pension has been stopped have moved court to get their pension restored.
The sources said “unprofessional management” of the contributory pension scheme in Kangra Cooperative Bank led to present scenario. When the scheme was implemented, a few former employees of the bank contributed just a few thousand rupees and took back over Rs 1 lakh within days and then enjoyed pension.
The bank adopted a pattern similar to the state government for calculating the pension of its employees. While in the case of government employees, the state is committed to giving pension under the contributory pension scheme, the funds have to be generated from the contribution of the employees. The bank could not adopt a pattern similar to the state government for giving pension to its employees.
The sources said the bank was going to re-implement the contributory pension scheme after changes in the previous scheme and increased contribution from employees.
In CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur, and the horticulture university at Nauni in Solan, concerns are being expressed over the future of the contributory pension scheme. The authorities of the agricultural university at Palampur had asked for Rs 100 crore from the state government for sustaining their contributory pension scheme.
The sources said in the university also, the contributory pension scheme was mismanaged. While the scheme was introduced in the university in 1996, the university management decided to extend its benefits to those who had retired since 1986.
The sources said the already fund-starved state had said no to making such a heavy contribution for sustaining the pension scheme of the agricultural university. A senior government functionary said on condition of anonymity that the government had no money to sustain the contributory pension scheme. It is already finding it difficult to pay pension to its own employees after the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.
