April 2023
24Apr

India. National Pension System likely to get a facelift

The recently-formed committee on the National Pension System (NPS) will review the nearly two-decade-old scheme with an intent to enable it to provide higher pensionary benefits, with higher contributions from both the government and employees. According to a source, the panel, headed by finance secretary TV Somanathan, might suggest guaranteeing a certain pension similar to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), but without reverting to the non-contributory system. The proposal is to usher in the guaranteed component “in a graded manner”,...

April 24, 2023
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20Apr

‘Big news’ is India’s population growth is below replacement level: UN expert

While India's population at 1.4 billion has surpassed that of China's, the "latest big news" is that the population growth is below the replacement fertility rate in India and it has a "window of opportunity", according to Rachel Snow, the lead demographer of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The continued trajectory for India is that while the young population entering the reproductive phase will boost overall fertility, "given the fertility pattern already evident, we can start to anticipate the decline,...

April 20, 2023
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19Apr

India to overtake China as world’s most populous country this year

India has surpassed China as the world’s most populous country, according to new UN data, marking a historic crossover moment for the two Asian rivals that are set to shape business and world affairs in years to come. According to the UN Population Fund’s World Population Dashboard, released on Wednesday, India’s population has surpassed 1.428bn, just overtaking China’s more than 1.425bn people. The update in population estimates came as the world body’s main agency that tracks demographic trends, the UNFPA, released...

April 19, 2023
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10Apr

India. Punjab Govt. Approved The Advance Payment Of Salaries And Pensions To Employees

On 07-04-2023, the Government of Punjab Finance Department issued a Notification concerning the Disbursement of Pay and Allowance in Advance for April 2023 Punjab. Due to Eid-ul-Fitr 2023, Punjab pensioners will also receive an advance pension for the month of April 2023. The Punjab Government will pay the April 2023 salary on April 17, 2023. Pay and Allowance Disbursement in Advance for Punjab Employees April 2023 Punjab The Governor of Punjab is pleased to approve the advance payment of pay and allowances...

April 10, 2023
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February 2023
08Feb

The Road to Women Empowerment through the Mechanism of Self Help Groups

By Pallavi Mahajan Women constitute 48.10 percent of the population of India and only 27 percent of this adult women population has a steady income, which makes women ‘poorest of the poor (World Bank 2019). It has been asserted that comprehensive progression and inclusive development in India would be conceivable only when women are considered as equivalent agents in the development debate (Mazumdar 2004). In this parlance, the development agencies have increasingly regarded ‘empowerment’ as an essential objective to improve...

February 8, 2023
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01Feb

The Progress of Social Security Measures for Labourers in India

By Dr. S.R. Keshava Social security has gained paramount importance in the changed economic scenario. Social security programmes are actively undertaken even in developed nations. The USA social security administration points out that it is much more than retirement program. One in Six Americans (57 million) receives social security benefits in USA. India also has enacted many social security measures for its needy citizens. In order to protect the welfare of unorganized workers the legislative measures namely minimunm wages Act, 1948,...

February 1, 2023
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December 2022
29Dec

India. PFRDA proposes bringing gig workers into pension fold

India's pension fund regulator has recommended the federal government introduce a UK-like pension scheme for the country's gig workers, a move aimed at bringing about 90% of the overall workforce into the pension fold, its chairman told Reuters. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), which manages over $102 billion in assets, has proposed that workers at food and cab aggregators be automatically enrolled into the National Pension Scheme (NPS), Chairman Supratim Bandyopadhyay said in an interview on Tuesday. The...

December 29, 2022
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November 2022
23Nov

Poor policy is failing the elderly in India’s unorganised sector

‘India has the world’s largest young workforce’ is an oft-repeated adage attached to the demographic dividend of the country. The immense excitement for the potential of India’s youth has seemingly overshadowed the fact that, given the nation’s falling mortality rate, its population is rapidly getting old. The recent Youth in India 2022 report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has recognised this shifting demographic phenomenon. According to the report, the youth population (aged 15–29 years) is expected...

November 23, 2022
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21Nov

India. Government pension funds need more lucrative investment avenues to quell controversy between old and new schemes

By Gautam Mukherjee When the Vajpayee administration introduced the new pension system (NPS) for Central and other government employees commencing on 1 January 2004, the motivation was to ensure long-term viability. It is mandatory for the Central government employees and a few other entities. Much greater longevity had complicated the calculations on the old pension system (OPS). The threat of a bankrupt state defaulting on pensions, such as West Bengal, Kerala or Punjab today, was already beginning to loom large in...

November 21, 2022
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03Nov

Older Persons’ Rights to Social Security

By Alan Gutterman Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that “[e]veryone, as a member of society, has the right to social security”, and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”) calls on States to “recognize the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance”. In its General Comment No. 19 on the right to social security released in 2008, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“CESCR”) explained...

November 3, 2022
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