No gratuity to aided colleges staff under NPS: Finance Dept

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, July 9

In a setback to those employees of 97 government-aided private colleges in the state, who are covered under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), the Finance Department (FD) has refused to fulfil their long-standing demand of providing them benefits of retirement gratuity and death gratuity.

Sources said the Department of Higher Education (DHE) had submitted a proposal to the FD in December last year to get advice regarding the demand, but the latter sent it back with remarks that “the proposal regarding the death-cum-retirement gratuity to the employees of government aided colleges covered under the NPS cannot be acceded to”.

The development came to the fore on Friday when the DHE issued minutes of a meeting with a delegation of the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation held in Chandigarh on June 19.

The demand for gratuity pertains to around 1,600 teaching and non-teaching employees of 97 government-aided private colleges, who were appointed after January 1, 2006, when the NPS was implemented in the state. The employees were expecting to get the benefits like those who are covered under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

The Haryana College Teachers Association (HCTA) has described it as a gross injustice. “No benefit of retirement gratuity and death gratuity was given in the NPS that was executed by the Centre in 2004 and the Haryana Government in 2006, but the Centre had, in August 2016, restored the benefits to all employees. The suit was followed by the state government in 2017, but employees of government-aided private colleges were not included in the decision,” said Dayanand Malik, president, HCTA.

Hopes of 1,600 employees dashed

The demand for retirement and death gratuity pertains to around 1,600 teaching and non-teaching employees of 97 govt-aided private colleges, who were appointed after January 1, 2006, when the NPS was implemented in the state. The employees were expecting to get the benefits like those who are covered under the Old Pension Scheme