Gratuity to douse 'Contributory Pension Scheme' fire

Hyderabad: Over 1.25 lakh employees covered under the Contributory Pension Scheme would be extended gratuity by the state government soon to compensate for some of their losses on account of CPS.

These employees are strongly opposing CPS and demanding restoration of Old Pension Scheme for which they had gone on a strike on September 1 and lost one day’s salary.

The finance department sent a proposal in this regard to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who is expected to grant approval soon.

Each employee would get up to Rs 12 lakh gratuity upon retirement.

However, the latest sop does not appear to have satisfied the CPS staff who vowed to continue their agitation seeking abolition of the scheme.

“Our final goal is abolition of CPS and restoration of OPS. The Centre and governments of various states, including neighbouring AP, have extended gratuity. But in Telangana state, this proposal is doing the rounds for the past eight months. Gratuity has nothing to do with our retirement benefits,” said Sthitha Pragna, president, Telangana CPS Employees Association.

Employees are demanding scrapping of the CPS. However, the state finance department has brought to the notice of government that scrapping of the CPS involves various legal issues and it’s not that easy to abolish it.

Instead, it suggested extending gratuity to CPS staff similar to that of OPS staff.

All the employees appointed from September 1, 2004, are covered under CPS. Under this, 10 per cent of their basic pay is deducted and the government also contributes an equal amount and invested in equity markets through Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.