Indian govt forms panel to review pension system

New Delhi (Reuters) – The Indian government has formed a panel to review the country’s pension system and discuss whether changes are warranted, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced last month that the government would consider changes to the country’s pension system to be used by both the federal and all state governments, seeking to unify the different schemes adopted by the country’s ruling and opposition political parties.

The panel will be chaired by the finance secretary, T.V. Somanathan, and the three others on the panel will be the chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, another senior official from the finance ministry and a senior official from the ministry responsible for pensions, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Debate over the country’s current pension scheme adopted in 2004 has picked up after a few Indian states decided to move back to an earlier system where the pension burden falls entirely on the government with no contribution required from employees.

This has been seen as a risk to government finances, prompting the federal government to initiate a review.

No timeline has been specified for the panel to submit its report.