M A I N   N E W S

Govt, BJP agree on Pension, Companies Bills
Faraz Ahmad/TNS

New Delhi, December 19
The government and the BJP agreed on the broad contours of the proposed amendment to the Provident Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill at a meeting between Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the two Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, NDA chairman LK Advani and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today.

Mukherjee seemed to have allayed most of BJP’s apprehensions, taking on board the main Opposition party.

Sources said the proposed amendment to the Bill envisages that 26% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposed earlier through a government notification will be effected through an Act of Parliament, which will safeguard against the government arbitrarily increasing the quantum of FDI at its own discretion.

BJP sources said they had no problems with the proposed amendment to the PFRDA Bill if it was brought in through an Act rather than a government notification. Once the government ceded ground, the BJP generally agreed on the broad contours.

The Left is ideologically opposed to FDI per se and, therefore, the government needed to take the BJP on board before it moved the Bill to prevent a repeat of the FDI in retail sector, explained government sources.

The New Pension System (NPS) for which PFRDA is sought to be amended, seeks to find sustainable solutions to the problem of providing adequate retirement income. As a first step towards instituting pensionary reforms, the Government of India moved from a defined benefit pension to a defined contribution-based pension system by making it mandatory for its new recruits (except armed forces) with effect from 1st January, 2004.

The government also reached an agreement with the BJP on the Companies Bill paving the way for the passage of the two Bills in the winter session of Parliament. The BJP secured the government nod on Limited Liability Partnership.