Nagaland employees question govt on NPS; Where is our 3,500 Cr

KOHIMA: In continuation of their demand for abolition of Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and National Pension Scheme (NPS), government employees under the banner of Confederation of All Nagaland State Service Employees Association (CNSEA) And the National Movement on OPS (NMOPS) – Nagaland chapter on Thursday questioned the state government over an amount of around Rs 3,500 crore that was not made transparent under the new pension scheme.
“We have learned that as on April 15, 2023, only 32,111 employees have created a Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) card, out of which only Rs 1,300 crore has been uploaded on the portal. Our query to the Nodal Department – Treasuries and Accounts is “Where is the workers’ money?” asked CANSSEA President Dr. Ilang.
Addressing a press conference at Heritage in Kohima, Dr Ilang said the government has informed its employees that about Rs 3,500 crore from the NPS has been kept in “safe hands in a dedicated account”. He said that this is virtual money and the government should not make the employees suffer.
He said that pension is the right of employees and not a reward. Referring to the protests and representations made to the state government as early as March this year, Dr Ilang appealed to the state government to return the OPS which has been guaranteed. He said that efforts are being made to put pressure on the Center to abolish the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) at the national level.
President of NMOPS Nagaland Chapter, Moa, who is a member of NPS, said that since he became a government employee in 2011, almost 10% of his salary was automatically deducted for NPS even before he got his PRAN card. was taken He said it indicated that the amount was in the state treasury account and the state government was not contributing 10% of the amount.
Of the nearly 40,000 government employees who subscribed to the NPS, about 8,000 were still without a PRAN card.

NMOPS Delhi Chapter President Dr Manjeet Singh Patel alleged that the National Pension Scheme is a “scam” and does not provide any security to employees during retirement. He also appealed to Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio to intervene.
Convener NMOPS Sudheer Rupji alleged that the money earned by the employees is being used only to hide the motives of the corporates instead of the employees under the NPS. He said that the scheme is not transparent and added that for the upcoming 2024 elections, civil servants will support only those political parties that stand in support of withdrawing OPS.
In September, civil servants from all over the country are expected to march to Parliament to demand an end to the NPS.
Earlier in March, nationwide protests were held over the demand for the old pension scheme. In Kohima, protesters took to the road and gathered outside the civil secretariat holding placards that read “NPS scrap, pension is my right”, “NPS is fooling people”. ”, “NPS is not a pension scheme”, etc.

NPS was introduced by the Center for all government appointments made after 1 January 2004, and is regulated under the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Act, 2013.