The government is likely to continue with the existing system for disbursing pension and retirement benefits to university employees.
During a discussion held with Higher Education Minister R. Bindu and representatives of various university employees’ and pensioners’ organisations here on Wednesday, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal promised to review a contentious Finance department order that required universities to foot the pension bills.
Staff opposed move
The decision to transfer the pension burden to universities threatened to snowball into a major controversy with organisations, cutting across political affiliations, criticising the move. The government had cited fiscal crunch and the possibility of a disruption in pension disbursal in the future behind its intentions to withdraw from disbursing pensions.
While pension dues are currently disbursed from non-plan grants, the Finance department directed universities to establish pension funds to shoulder the financial burden. Universities, which formally sought a review of the order, feared the move could disrupt the distribution of pension and retirement dues and also possibly lead to a considerable hike in examination and other fees.
