Page 7 - Pensions

Andhra govt gives approval to teacher recruitment, welfare pensions hike

The first Cabinet meeting of the new TDP-led government in Andhra Pradesh, headed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu approved the recruitment of 16,347 teachers, abolition of the Land Titling Act and hiking of welfare pensions among other decisions on Monday. Information and Public Relations (I & PR) Minister K Parthasarathy said the Cabinet gave an assurance to all sections of people that the state government would implement all the poll promises. "First and foremost, the Cabinet approved the recruitment of 16,347 teachers posts through the District Selection Committee (DSC) recruitment," said Parthasarathy, addressing a press conference at the Secretariat. Unlike the YSRCP government which did not recruit a single teacher in its five-year tenure, the Minister said the government which also includes Janasena and the BJP, will regularly conduct DSC exam to recruit teachers. Also, he said the Cabinet had abolished the Land Titling Act introduced by the previous government as it .

Deferred pension plans, applying for visa: Top personal finance stories

This week we write about the advantages and drawbacks of annuity plans and how to work on your visa application

8th Pay Commission: Govt gets proposal for hike in DA, basic pay, pension

With a decade between each pay commissions, the next installment is expected to take effect from January 1, 2026

Khandu approves Rs 100 cr under CM's Social Security Scheme in Arunachal

Hours after being sworn in, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday signed his first official document, approving the release of Rs 100 crore under the Chief Minister's Social Security Scheme (CMSSS) which will benefit approximately 80,000 people across the state. The CMSSS, a state flagship programme, provides pensions to elderly persons above 60 years, widows, and divyang jan (differently abled). "Considering the fact that preparations for the state budget has been delayed due to the general elections, it is necessary that the benefits under CMSSS reach the needy beneficiaries at the earliest," he said. Guided by the principles of Antyodaya, the state government is dedicated to the most vulnerable and marginalised sections of society, an official communiqu said. In the last financial year, Rs 90 crore was allocated under the scheme benefiting 56,030 elderly persons, 8,782 widows and 3,950 differently abled. The Khandu government had launched the scheme in 2019 a

Policy loan now mandatory in all life insurance savings products: Irdai

Regulator Irdai on Wednesday said the facility of policy loan is now mandatory in all life insurance savings products, enabling policyholders to meet liquidity requirements. Issuing a master circular which consolidates all regulations with regards to life insurance policies, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) also said the free look period, which provides time to review the policy terms and conditions, is 30 days as against 15 days earlier. The latest master circular follows a similar exercise by the regulator for general insurance policies. "This is an important step in the series of reforms taken up by the insurance regulator with interests of the policyholders at the core. A conducive environment is now facilitated to spur innovation, enhance customer experience and satisfaction," Irdai said. According to the master circular, the facility of partial withdrawal under pension products is allowed enabling the policyholders to meet their specific ...

NDA govt proposes 50% assured pension for central govt staff under NPS

The Modi govt has set up a committee led by Finance Secretary T V Somanathan in 2023 to explore ways to improve pension benefits under the NPS after states began reverting to OPS

Nearly 51 mn person years of employment created annually in last 10 years

A person-year is a unit of measurement for the amount of work done by an individual throughout the entire year, expressed in hours

Inclusion of foreign workers in PF is 'unconstitutional': Karnataka HC

The decision comes 15 years after the extension of PF and pension coverage to foreign workers via a legislative amendment

Pension department launches integrated portal for govt retirees: Know more

Digital empowerment of pensioners is being implemented through various means such as Digital Life Certificates and Bhavishya Portal

LS polls: Pension increase, Vizag as executive capital in YSRCP manifesto

YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday released its manifesto for the upcoming elections and promised to gradually hike welfare pensions from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per month and govern the state from Visakhapatnam. The chief minister noted that welfare pensions, which are currently at Rs 3,000 per month, will be raised to Rs 3,250 from January 2028 and subsequently to Rs 3,500 from January 2029. "Immediately after YSRCP forms the government in 2024, Visakhapatnam will be made the executive capital and the seat of the government. It will be developed as the growth engine of the state," said Reddy, addressing a press conference. Further, he vowed that Amaravati will be developed as the legislative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital. Creation of special panchayats for Dalits who account for 50 percent population of a village or 500 households is a new scheme introduced in the manifesto today. Over the next five years, the ruling party chief promised to supply pure ...

Apr 1, FY25: Income-tax slab to NPS, full list of updated rules from today

Read on to know about the changes affecting your tax regime, National Pension System, EPFO, insurance, and mutual funds starting today

Atal Pension Yojana: How to avail of pension scheme for unorganised sector

Amount subscribers get on retirement is determined on how early they joined the scheme and the contribution amount

Atal Pension Yojana poorly designed, says Cong; FM Sitharaman hits back

Hours after the Congress dubbed the Centre's Atal Pension Yojana as a "poorly-designed scheme" that "hoodwinks and coerces" people into participating in it, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hit back at the grand old party accusing it of "hoodwinking" people in the name of vote bank politics. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Atal pension scheme is a "fitting representation of the Modi Government's policy making: headline management, with few benefits actually reaching the people". His attack came after a media report claimed that nearly one of three subscribers who dropped out of the Centre's pension scheme for unorganised sector, did so because their accounts were opened without their "explicit" permission. The report cited a recent sample study by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). "The 'flagship' Atal Pension Yojana is a very poorly-designed scheme, a paper tiger that needs officials to hoodwink and coerce people into participatin

PFRDA Chairperson launches mobile app for financial inclusion, boost NPS

PFRDA Chairperson Deepak Mohanty on Thursday launched a web application developed by Zerodha Broking Limited to provide easy access to NPS for subscribers. The app offers seamless access to NPS to a wider subscriber base, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said in a statement. Mohanty said that there is merit in joining NPS at a young age to harness the benefit of compounding. NPS provides continuity to retirement saving accounts irrespective of one's employment status and is available for non-resident Indians (NRIs), it said. As youngsters are tech savvy, the facilitation by Zerodha Broking Limited would expand access to NPS, it added.

ESIC adds around 1.88 mn new members in Dec, 47% youth, shows govt data

Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) added 18.86 lakh new members in December 2023, according to provisional payroll data released on Thursday. Around 23,347 new establishments were registered and brought under the social security umbrella of ESIC in December, ensuring more coverage, the labour ministry said in a statement. The data shows that more jobs were generated for the youth during the month as out of the total 18.86 lakh employees added, 8.83 lakh, constituting 47 per cent of the total registrations, were up to the age group of 25 years. The net enrolment of female members was 3.59 lakh in December 2023, according to the data. A total of 47 transgender employees were registered under the ESI Scheme in December. It also shows that ESIC is committed to delivering its benefits to every section of society, the ministry stated. The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise.

EPFO releases guidelines for EPS members having multiple accounts

The present guidelines are to streamline the claims process, as many times a member has multiple accounts and the contributed amount varies, causing trouble during the calculation of the amount

State revenue grows 5% till Nov against 17.4 budgeted for FY24: Report

The growth rate of the combined revenue receipts of the 16 largest states has fallen by almost 80 per cent to 5 per cent during April-November from the budgeted 17.4 per cent for the current fiscal, according to a report. The states have so far borrowed over 37 per cent more than they did last fiscal and given these poor numbers, they will have to borrow heavily this fiscal to service their debt and pay salaries and pensions. The plunge is due to a contraction in sales tax and lower-than-budgeted growth of state goods and services tax collections (SGST), excise duty and stamps and registrations during the period, restricting the growth of states own tax revenue (SOTR) to 11 per cent. Another reason for the poor numbers is the steep decline in Central grants, Icra Ratings said in a report. The agency, though, expects an upside in tax devolution in the fourth quarter, its quantum may not be adequate to fully offset the shortfall in grants. Moreover, even if a sizeable portion of the

Karnataka govt to implement Old Pension Scheme for 13,000 employees

Under the old pension scheme, a government employee is entitled to a monthly pension after retirement

ICICI Prudential offers 100% refund in pension plan at any stage of policy

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance on Thursday launched a new pension plan offering 100 per cent return at any stage of the policy, making it the industry's first annuity plan that offers to return full refund of premium paid at any time starting from the date of purchase. The product is the first one after the regulator Irdai issued draft guidelines last November mandating insurers to return a higher amount on surrender of a policy mid-term. In a statement, the company said this is the industry's first annuity product to give back 100 per cent of the premium paid at any time in alignment with the proposed regulations on offering policyholders fair and appropriate surrender value. The new product also offers loan against the policy to meet liquidity needs of the insured. Customers can choose from an array of annuity options such as single-life option, in which the income is paid for as long as they live, or a joint-life option, where after one passes away, the income is paid to the ...

New provisions for partial pension withdrawal: All you need to know

The PFRDA introduced rules for partial withdrawals from National Pension System, allowing subscribers to withdraw up to 25% for specified purposes, effective from February 1