Left voices protest against private players entry in pension funds

The Left parties in a letter to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh have posed serious reservation on the governments latest move to allow private and foreign funds to manage pension funds.

New Delhi, May 20 : The Left parties in a letter to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh have posed serious reservation on the government's latest move to allow private and foreign funds to manage pension funds.

Criticising the role of Finance Minister P Chidambaram for not listening to their concerns over the issue, the letter which has been signed by the chief of the four left parties- CPM's Prakash Karat, CPI's A B Bardhan, RSP's Abani Roy and Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas-it stated: "In the name of an interim step, some of the objectionable features of the bill are going to be put in place. We wish to register our strong disapproval of this move."

'We fail to understand how the Finance Minister has cleared this step, when he is fully aware of our strong and continuing objections. The central and the state government employees' organisations have also expressed their opposition," the letter said.

Left parties, which provide key support to the UPA government and could review its support to the UPA after the Presidential polls slated later this year, said:"We request you to put on hold the process of appointing pension fund managers initiated by the PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority). Instead, the funds may be placed with the employees provident fund organisation till a final decision is taken on the new pension scheme."

ANI