Nabard Staff Members and Retirees Observe Strike; Demand Pension Updation

Six former presidents of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) have asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to intervene in a long-awaited pension problem for the bank's retirees.

Nabard workers and retirees are on strike today for a one-day period, seeking a salary revision as well as the opportunity to move from a contributory provident fund to a pension scheme.

The letter was written by the former chairmen and managing directors of the growth financial institution a month ago, but no progress was made.

According to them, Nabard's pension fund has a balance of Rs 5750 crore as of March 2020, and the returns on pension funds produce a sufficient surplus per year.

According to them, Nabard's pension fund has a balance of Rs 5750 crore as of March 2020, and the returns on pension funds produce a sufficient surplus per year.

As a consequence, they say, Nabard does not need outside assistance to revise pensions. The letter was signed by former chairmen Umesh Chandra Sarangi, YSP Thorat, Ranjana Kumari, and P Kotaiah. MVS Chalapathi Rao and PVA Rama Rao, both former managing directors, have joined them. For the last couple of years, Nabard workers have been agitating on these topics.

Workers of Nabard, which was spun off from the Reserve Bank of India in 1982 to concentrate more on farm credit, previously received the same benefits as RBI employees.

RBI pensions have been revised in recent years, and its workers have been offered a second opportunity to move from CPF to pension schemes after a long pause. The Department of Financial Services, on the other hand, has so far ignored the demands of Nabard workers.