Rajasthan wants enactment of Pension Fund Regulatory Bill

New Delhi, Jan 22 (UNI) The Rajasthan Government today strongly demanded early enactment of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), regretting the Government's failure to take up the PFRDA bill 2005 in Parliament for consideraton and approval till date.

''The passage of the Bill and appointment of the regulatory authority is an absolute necessity to ensure that a central record keeping agency is in place to keep individual's accounts and also to license the pension fund managers to manage the accumulating pension wealth of the employees in accodance with the options they choose to exercise,'' Rajasthan Minister of State for Finane Virendra Meena told the Conference of Chief Ministers and Finance Ministers on New Contributory Pension Scheme convened by the Centre.

He pointed out that in the absence of such a legislation there was no central record keeping agency and no pension fund managers to manage investment of funds.

Mr Meena said the State Government had ultimetely made interim arragements for the last more than three years to open and maintain individual contributory pension accounts of such a large number of employees in the state. Howevery it was not able to transfer the accoumulating pension wealth of new employees to the pension fund managers.

Stressing the need for the Pension Fund Managers, the Rajasthan Minister informed the State Government had often been subjected to two major criticism, first the employees covered under the new pension contributory scheme and the State government not allowing them the option of investment at their choice.

''As returns from the investments of cash balances of the state is lower than the rate of interest allowed on the contributory pension fund accounts, the state government and also the people of the state are suffering higher interest cost, making governments open to the charge of imprudent financial managment,'' he said.

UNI