Regional Rural Banks' 30k retirees set to get pension

The government has directed the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (Nabard) to implement the long-awaited pension scheme for 30,000-odd regional rural bank retirees, who have won a protracted legal battle demanding parity in pension with nationalised bank employees in April this year. 

The government has sent a communication to all regional rural bank chairmen and chief executives of their sponsor banks to execute the decision. “Nabard has been requested to comply with the orders of the Supreme Court,” said the communication dated August 16. 

Retired RRB employees will get pension at par with their counterparts in nationalised banks with effect from April this year. The Department of Financial Services has decided that employees, who were in service as on September 1, 1987, will be eligible for the pension, while those who joined RRBs before April 1, 2018, will come under this scheme. The Supreme Court has directed the government to implement the pension scheme within three months, while the government is yet to issue a final notification. 

“It is already late and obviously beyond the time limit fixed by the court, and we still expect the issuance of final order or notification from the government or Nabard,” said S Venkateswar Reddy, secretary general at All India Regional Rural Bank Employees’ Association. The decision on arrears prior to April this year is yet to be taken, sources in the know said. 

“We will examine the total impact of the scheme once it is notified. If there are any deviations, we will take up the issue for necessary remedial measures,” said Abdul Sayeed Khan, general secretary of National Federation of Regional Rural Bank Officers. 

It has been decided that the pension burden will be borne by the respective RRBs from their working expenses till structured pension funds are created as per the provision of the pension regulations. 

Source- Economic Times