The All India Railwaysmen's Federation has welcomed the government's move to increase its contribution to the NPS for central government staff, but said it was still pushing for a scheme that would ensure guaranteed pension.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Monday said the Centre has decided to increase its contribution to the NPS for the central government employees to 14 per cent from the current 10 per cent and also made the entire withdrawal amount tax-free at the time of retirement. The minimum employee contribution stands at 10 per cent.
The decision was taken at the Union Cabinet meeting last week.
The general secretary of All India Railwaysmen's Federation, Shiv Gopal Mishra, said, "While we welcome the decision of the government, we are still demanding that we get a scheme that guarantees pension for us after retirement."
"The NPS is market driven and has many loopholes. We don't want a huge amount of money, we just want enough and assured pay after retirement," he said.
The union, which was to begin mass protests from Tuesday against the non-fulfilment of its demands, has asked for an exemption for rail employees from the NPS scheme.
Currently, only the armed forces are exempt from the NPS.
"We stand by our demands. We have spoken to the railway board and hopefully, our demands will be met," Mishra said.
As of now, the union has postponed the protests after assurances from the railway board.
The railways has over 13 lakh pensioners, an official said. However, the NPS is applicable to those who joined central government service after January 1, 2004.
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