Batting for an increase in the Provident Fund pension amount, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today said it was a reality that the existing PF pension was meagre.
The minimum PF pension amount should be made at least Rs 1,000, Chandy said while replying to a calling attention to the necessity to include PF pensioners in the scheme for supplying rice at Rs 1 per kg and in the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).
The Union Labour Ministry has forwarded a recommendation to hike the PF pension amount to Rs 1,000. The matter was now under the consideration of the Union Finance Ministry, Chandy said.
Referring to the demand of Elamarram Kareem (CPI-M) who moved the calling attention, Chandy said due to financial constraints the State would not be able to include all PF pensioners in the BPL category list.
The Centre has prescribed guidelines to identify beneficiaries under RSBY and due to certain technical problems, all PF pensioners could not be included in the scheme, he said.
In this regard, the Kerala Government’s subsidy Bill for rice would come to around Rs 635 crore and if all PF pensioners were included in the BPL list, the subsidy would go up to Rs 645 crore, he said.