'Minimum pension under EPS to be made permanent'

In order to remove uncertainty over the payment of minimum Rs 1,000 monthly pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) beyond March 31, the government will amend the scheme to make it a permanent feature.

“When we have planned that (Rs 1,000 minimum monthly) pension will be given, then it would not be for one year. That would be done,” Labour Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said when asked if there is a move to amend EPS-95 to make the entitlement perpetual.

The government order currently provides that the pension under the EPS-95 scheme will be implemented from September 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015.

In the current scenario, for paying a minimum pension of Rs 1,000 under EPS-95, either the government would re-notify the decision again and again for a specified period or bring an order to make it a permanent feature.

Tomar said: “We still have time to do that. The minimum pension will be an entitlement for a time-frame. You can ask about it if we don’t do it within the set timeframe (till March 31).”

The minister said under the scheme, around 32 lakh pensioners who get less than Rs 1000 every month as pension would be immediately benefited. There are 49 lakh pensioners under the scheme at present.