TMC wants more discussion on pension bill

Kolkata: Registering firm opposition over the proposed pension bill, Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy on Thursday said his party wants more discussion on it as the standing committee on the legislation didn’t have any representative from Trinamool. “Trinamool Congress wants more discussion on the issue of pension bill. Earlier, along with other parties we had also opposed the pension bill. The bill was then sent to the standing committee,” said Roy. [caption id=“attachment_336167” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“AFP”]  [/caption] “The standing committee meetings were held on 21 July, 3 and 29 Aug. But after Sudip Bandopadhyay became a minister of state on July 12, we had no representation in the standing committee. So, we feel that more discussion is needed over this issue,” said Roy. The government on Thursday deferred a decision on pension fund reforms following opposition from Trinamool Congress, a key ally. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011, which seeks to allow private and foreign investments in pension sector and to introduce comprehensive reforms, was listed in the agenda for the union cabinet meeting in New Delhi. However, the meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, chose to defer the decision on the bill following opposition from the Trinamool, sources said. IANS