State not to raise pension age

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Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday said that the government will discuss the issue of raising the pension age of those joining the contributory pension scheme (CPS) from April 2013.
 Replying to questions on (CPS), Mr Chandy said that the retirement age of employees in most parts of the country was 60 years. So there were genuine apprehensions regarding benefits for five years as the retirement age in the state was 55 years.
He said there was no question of increasing the retirement age of existing employees. However the government would discuss the retirement age issue pertaining to those joining government service from April 1, 2013.
 He said there was no question of going back on CPS even while pointing that the doors were open for discussions to end the three-day-old strike of government employees and teachers.
 At the Cabinet briefing, Mr Chandy said that Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan spoke to him on Wednesday and C. Divakaran on Thursday seeking negotiations with striking employees.  “I told them that the government was open to discussion with the staff but it will not take the initiative of inviting them for negotiations. It was the Left-led organizations which mocked at the government’s explanation on contributory pension scheme during the last discussions,” he added.
 Mr Chandy said that 90 per cent of the staff in the country including those owing allegiance to Left unions in other states, have accepted the National pension scheme. “I have made it clear that the new scheme will have no impact on the existing staff. Our pension commitment will reach a staggering Rs 8 lakh crore by 2040 if the national scheme is not  implemented here,” he added.