CHENNAI: State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said a misinformation campaign was afoot to confuse government employees about the contributory pension scheme. In a statement here, he said as of March 31, the contribution of the employees stood at Rs 53,555.75 crore.
Of this, Rs 41,264.63 crore has been deposited with the LIC as a superannuation fund while Rs 12,000 crore has been invested through the RBI in the Union government’s Treasury Bills. This procedure was being followed since 2003, he said.
The minister said the contributory pension scheme was introduced by a previous AIADMK regime on April 1, 2003. All employees who joined the service after this date have become members of this scheme and so far 6,02,377 employees have enrolled in it.
As per this scheme, 10 per cent of the basic pay and dearness allowance of the employees are being contributed to the scheme. The State government contributed an equal amount.
Further, the employees' contribution, the State's contribution, and the interest were being credited directly to their individual accounts and they have not been used for any other purpose. In future too, this fund would be utilised only for providing a pension. The entire process is transparent.
Recently, BJP State president K Annamalai had alleged that Tamil Nadu had not deposited Rs 10,436 crore in pension funds with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. The minister said the authority was only a regulatory body and none could deposit money in it.