Retired port staff gets to consolidate pension

The government today said it has given nod for pension consolidation for retired employees of its 12 major ports, with a financial implication of Rs 537 crore for three years.
"The Ministry of Shipping has decided to allow consolidation of pension in respect of retired Group 'C' and 'D' employees of major port trusts. Now, their pension fixation will be done notionally with effect from January 1, 2007, and actual arrears to accrue with effect from January 1, 2012, entailing a financial implication of Rs 536.51 crore for three years," an official statement said.
The decision will now be implemented by respective major ports from their own resources, it added.

Earlier, the labour federation had sought Minister of Shipping Nitin Gadkari's intervention for an early resolution of its long-standing demand for consolidation of pension for Group C and D employees who retired before January 1, 2012.
"Since the overall port performance and profitability have improved in the past one year, this measure of consolidation of pension is a step towards sharing prosperity of the major ports with the port community," the statement said.
There are 12 major ports - Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust), Marmugao, New Mangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Ennore, VO Chidambarnar (formerly Tuticorin Port), Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia), which handle some 61 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.