With the Government keen to find a way to meet objections from Left parties on the pension Bill, new suggestions are being made that both sides privately admit could lead to a solution sooner than expected. Even though the CPI has rejected the Government’s proposals made last Friday at a meeting with UPA ministers Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram — this was done by the party’s national executive that met over the weekend — the CPI(M) has not closed the door on the Government’s proposals and is talking to its trade union wing raising hopes that a solution may soon be in sight.

According to a CPI(M) MP, a way out could actually be found before the Budget session of Parliament, but that would depend largely on the Government’s proposals to accommodate the concerns of trade unions. So far, the only suggestion from the Government to meet the Left’s insistence on an assured return of 50 per cent of the regular monthly salary based on a three year average has been that this could be possible if employees are willing to pay a higher premium. The suggestion has come from the Finance Minister during discussions with the Left parties even though the premium amount has not been quantified.

“We feel this is an unreasonable condition but the solution will perhaps come once we find some meeting ground along these lines. We have no dispute with the fact that PSU fund managers will manage the pension funds,” the CPI(M) MP said, adding that trade union members and MPs Tapan Sen and Chittabrata Majumdar from CITU have been kept in the loop on the Government’s proposals.

... contd.