Karat key for pension lock / Dec 13, 2005 / The Telegraph
From Indiapensions
Karat key for pension lock
New Delhi: CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has sent a note to the Centre on the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority Bill, suggesting a solution that could make the bill acceptable to at least his party, if not to all the Left Front constituents.
Sources said Karat has proposed in his note that the management of the pension fund be given to public sector entities like LIC - a suggestion that could remove a big hurdle in the way of the CPM accepting the bill. The bill now says the fund will be managed by a private agency.
The CPM general secretary is open to getting the bill passed because of pressure from Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The CPM's politburo meeting will begin in Delhi tomorrow and will be followed by the party's central committee meeting.
"The PFRDA bill is not on the agenda of the meeting. We will discuss the general political situation," said Nilotpal Basu, the CPM's Rajya Sabha leader and central committee member.
It is, however, possible that the bill could come up for discussion as a section of Citu leaders and some politburo members are doggedly opposing it.
Fearing that the CPM would make placatory moves on the bill, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan is believed to have written to Karat.
In his letter, the CPI leader has said all the Left Front constituents should oppose the bill on the floor of the House.
The Centre is keen to push through the bill in the winter session, which ends on December 23. It has already circulated the bill among the Left leaders.
The CPM has come up with a response to show it is willing to negotiate on the bill. The CPI has not given its comments, indicating that it is sticking to its trade union's view and is not willing to negotiate.
Karat's colleagues in Citu, M.K. Pandhe and Chittabrata Majumdar, are not willing to accept the bill though the party's secretary in Bengal, Anil Biswas, is siding with his chief minister.
At a recent public rally, Pandhe had said a categoric "no" to the bill.
"There is nothing to amend in the bill because we are opposed to the basic concept of privatisation of pension," Pandhe has said. Within his own party, however, he may end up being in a minority.
A rift within the Left Front, however, is inevitable if the CPM votes in favour of the bill. CPI sources said Karat has to keep in mind the Bengal government's financial compulsions. "He has to work out a balance," said a leader.
