An All India Convention against the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill presented in the Lok Sabha will be held at New Delhi on 22nd July 2011 under the auspices of the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers, All India Defence Employees Federations, All India Railwaymens Federation, All India State Government Employees Federation, BSNL Employees Union and the Pensioners organisations. The bill proposes to change the defined pension system in to contributed pension system as also to put the pension corpus in mutual funds etc. which will be at the mercy of the varying market forces resulting in loss of pension itself.
The PFRDA Bill could not be passed at the time of the UPA I government due to the strong opposition of the Left Parties which were supporting the government at that time. Even in the last session of the Lok Sabha, the PFRDA bill could be presented only with the support of the main opposition BJP.
The working class will have to wage a serious battle against this anti-worker move of the government. It is in this context that the All India Convention’s importance lies.