I-T employees oppose new pension scheme

Masab Tank: Income Tax Employees Federation has demanded that union government continue the old pension scheme, withdrawing the new scheme. The federation organised a state-level convention on pension scheme at the Income Tax Towers here on Sunday.

Speaking at the convention, Yashwant Purohit, the national working president of the federation, said that the employees do not favour new pension as it fails to secure the life of employees after retirement.

As the new scheme is applied to employees who joined after January 1, 2004, employees were concerned about their future, he said. As per old scheme, 60 per cent of the amount deducted from salaries is paid as gratuity and rest of the amount is paid as pension but as per the new system the deducted amount is invested in shares and would be paid as gratuity.

He alleged that central government had been privatizing profit-making public sector companies and handing over the properties to corporate companies. He urged employees to participate in nation-wide employee and worker strike called against the anti-labour policies of the union government on January 8.

Federation's national assistant secretary Usha Bonepally, the president of confederation of central government employees and workers' union, Andhra and Telangana states, V Nageshwar Rao, general secretary Aziz, Andhra & Telangana federations president KV Ramana Rao, general secretary MV Prasad and others attended the convention.