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19. Unified Pension Scheme promises assured benefits

The Centre announced a new guaranteed pension scheme for its employees, offering an
assured amount of half their average basic salary drawn over the 12 months preceding
superannuation for those completing at least 25 years of service.
The five-pillar Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) will benefit 2.3 million central government
employees, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a media briefing
on Saturday’s Cabinet decisions.
The move is aimed at resolving the debate over the old pension scheme (OPS), which
several opposition-ruled states have resurrected on the grounds that its more favourable to
employees.

Beneficiary numbers under UPS will rise to 9 million if state governments adopt the scheme,
the Centre said. Starting April 1, 2025, the new scheme will offer a minimum pension of
`10,000 a month and will be inflation adjusted.
The scheme is like the OPS in terms of benefits. However, unlike that fiscally burdensome
pay-as-you-go programme, the UPS assured pension will be fully funded each year from the
budget and absorbed into it. This will ensure the programme won’t be a burden on future
generations, Vaishnaw said.
Those on the current National Pension System (NPS) will have the choice of shifting to the
programme. The NPS is a defined contribution scheme that was rolled out on January 1,
2004. It earns employees a retirement corpus and annuity depending on their contributions.
Under UPS, on death of the pensioner, the family will be entitled to 60% of the last pension.
Those serving in the government for 10-25 years will get a proportionate assured sum. The
pension will be indexed to inflation using the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial
Workers. The scheme will provide a lumpsum payment at superannuation, in addition to
gratuity. This will be onetenth of monthly emoluments, including pay plus dearness
allowance on the date of superannuation for every six months of service completed, with no
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reduction in the quantum of assured pension. In 99% of cases, it will be better for employees
to shift to UPS from the current NPS, said cabinet secretary-designate TV Somanathan.
Those who retired under NPS will also have the option to shift to UPS and will be paid any
arrears and interest.
The government will step up its contribution from 14% of salary to 18.5% to ensure the
scheme is fully funded. Employees will continue to contribute 10%.
The expenditure on arrears will be Rs 800 crore, while that on the scheme and the additional
requirement in the first year of the scheme will be Rs 6,250 crore because of the increase in
government contribution, Somanathan said.
The architecture of the scheme is national, but states are welcome to join the programme, he
added. State governments will have to fund the scheme for their employees.
The number of people who have retired under NPS is very small, Somanathan added. The
scheme is based on the recommendations of a committee set up under Somanathan in April
2023 to look into the pension structure of government employees, amid an intense debate
over NPS after Congress-ruled states decided to revert to the old defined-benefit system.
“UPS is fiscally more prudent… This is a funded contributory scheme,” the finance secretary
said, adding that the difference is assurance and shielding pensioners from the vagaries of
markets.
Economic Times
25-08-24
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13. This land is their land

After Wayanad, time to empower common people to claim their rightful inheritance
Mahatma Gandhi was greatly influenced by Christ’s ethic of love. For him, the text of
Matthew 5:5 in the New Testament, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”,
was particularly important. In today’s India, the vast majority are meekly bearing the costs of
environmental degradation that is serving the narrow interests of a small coterie of rich and
powerful people in league with bureaucrats, and politicians of all hues. But the magnitude of
the suffering and the loss of lives — the recent landslide in Meppadi in Wayanad claimed an
estimated 400-odd victims — is now beginning to stir the country’s conscience.
Landslides on all scales have become increasingly frequent with growing pace of human
interventions such as quarrying of rocks, mining, construction of roads and buildings on
slopes in hilly regions. Our Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) had suggested
that such activities should be banned after obtaining feedback from local communities in
certain regions of Western Ghats identified as Ecologically Highly Sensitive.
The WGEEP report, initially suppressed by the government for being anti-development, was
made public when prompted by an RTI enquiry in May 2012. As it came out, there was a
storm of protests, backed by a campaign of disinformation. But there was also a fair level of
support from different segments of society in the various Western Ghats states. This was
particularly evident in Kerala because a Malayalam translation had reached a substantial
number of people. I, therefore, received many invitations to lectures and visits which I
eagerly accepted. At the same time, there were threats, too, and the Kerala government
thought it prudent to give me police protection. I made one such visit to Chemban Mudi in
the Pathanamthitta district in 2013. Granite quarrying and crushing had been going on in two
giant quarries in these hills for a decade. Diesel emissions and quarry dust had triggered cases
of asthma, lung cancer, bronchitis and tuberculosis among the locals. There were landslips
and serious adverse impacts on streams and agriculture. There were horror stories about
quarry workers, mostly Jharkhand tribals driven out of their lands due to devastation caused
by mining. They had lost all contact with friends and relatives, and it was rumoured that
whenever there was an accidental death, the quarry owners threw the body into the deep
quarry pit, wiping out all traces of the victim.
The Geological Survey had strongly recommended against the on-going blasting. The district
administration ignored this and continued to support the quarry operator. Unable to tolerate
this any longer, the people launched a year-long mass movement against quarrying and
crushing. The protesters, mostly women from nearly a hundred Kudumbashree units,
marched to Chemban Mudi on March 21, 2013, forcibly bringing the operations to a halt.
In 2013, the quarry workers had indeed lost all contact with friends and relatives. But the
situation has changed dramatically after 2015 as smartphones with facilities for use of local
languages and audio and video clips have become affordable even to common people. Today
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illiterate tribal people in remote Naxal-affected villages of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district

are in constant touch with each other and friends like me outside. Landless illiterate women
in Bihar have started to click pictures of their goats on their phones, upload the images and
sell their goats as far as 500–600 km away at 40 per cent higher prices on online sales
platforms like OLX.
There is every hope, therefore, that thus empowered, the so-far meek commoners of India can
now come forward to stake their rightful claims to the resources of their country. Naturally,
this will have to begin with small and constructive steps. I propose four such steps for the
people of Wayanad and other similarly placed compatriots. First, demand that all rock
quarries be handed over to Kudumbashree groups. The experience of a similar women’s
savings group in the progressive Mendha (Lekha) village in Gadchiroli district in 1991 has
shown that women can handle such a challenge effectively, generating local employment and
earning profits while taking prudent care of the environment. Second, allow no further tourist
resorts. Instead, reserve the sector for homestays organised by tribals. This has been done
effectively in Goa by people of the Velip tribe, and in the state of Sikkim. Third, hand over
tea state management to well-organised labour cooperatives employing tea-garden labourers
on decent wages and provide them decent housing.
Fourth, legally challenge the Wildlife Protection Act. Under WLPA, people are not free to
defend themselves against marauding animals as even driving them out of their homes and
crop fields needs official permission. Yet, the Indian Penal Code, Sections 100 and 103,
sanction voluntarily causing of death or of any other harm to the wrongdoer if: [a] An assault
by the wrongdoer may reasonably cause the apprehension that death or grievous hurt will be
the consequence of such assault [b] If the offence involves the wrongdoer committing house
or property trespass or robbery. Wild pigs and elephants have, on occasion, killed people,
often trespassing on farmers’ properties and robbing them of farm produce. Tigers and
panthers kill people and their livestock. Our people should no longer bear this violation of
their fundamental rights meekly.
I hope and trust that we will soon see a new dawn with common people shedding their
meekness and claiming their rightful inheritance.
By Madhav Gadgil
Indian Express, 22-08-24
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21. PM Modi exhorts Global South to fight terror, separatism

Countries of the Global South should unite to tackle terrorism, extremism and separatism
besides seeking to shore up health, food and energy security and bridging the technology
divide amid the uncertainty that grips the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on
Saturday.
“We are already facing the challenges of climate change, and now there are concerns about
health security, food security, and energy security,” Modi told the opening session of the third
Voice of Global South Summit hosted virtually by India. “Terrorism, extremism and
separatism continue to pose serious threats to our societies.”
He called for unity among the countries of the bloc.
“It is the need of the hour that the countries of the Global South unite, stand together in one
voice, and become each other’s strength,” Modi said. “Let us learn from each other’s
experiences and share our abilities. Together, let’s take our resolutions to fruition.”
New Delhi will share its capabilities with the Global South to promote mutual trade, inclusive
growth, and advancement of sustainable development goals, the prime minister said.
India will make an initial contribution of $25 million to the Social Impact Fund, which has
been set up to accelerate the use of the country’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) in the
Global South, he said.
Agreements to share the India Stack and systems such as digital IDs and payments have been
reached with 12 partners from the Global South.
The summit is being held amid “an atmosphere of uncertainty,” with the world still grappling
with the impact of Covid-19 and new challenges to development due to various conflicts, he
said.
“The technology divide and new economic and social challenges related to technology are
emerging,” Modi said. “The global governance and financial institutions built in the last
century have been unable to fight the challenges of this century.”
Development Agenda
India created the Voice of Global South platform after taking over the G20 presidency in
2022 to ascertain the needs of developing countries so that they could be included in the
agenda of the bloc of the 20 largest economies. India hosted the first two summits virtually
during its G20 presidency.
It also incorporated suggestions from the Global South at the G20 Summit held in Delhi in
September 2023. “The Voice of Global South Summit became a platform where we openly
discussed problems and priorities related to development,” Modi said. India led the G20 with
an “inclusive and development-focused approach,” and this resulted in the African Union
getting permanent membership in the G20, he added.
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Modi referred to the creation of the Global DPI Repository, which was the first multilateral
consensus on digital infrastructure. “We are pleased that agreements to share the India Stack
have been reached with 12 partners from the Global South,” he said. “To accelerate DPI in
the Global South, we have created the Social Impact Fund. India will make an initial
contribution of $25 million.”
By Dipanjan Roy Chaushury
Economy Times, 18-08-24