The Indian government has approved a long-awaited wage revision for Public Sector General Insurance companies (PSGICs) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). This revision will benefit approximately 46,322 employees, 23,570 pensioners, and 23,260 family pensioners across these organizations. The wage revision for PSGIC employees will be effective from August 1, 2022, and will result in a 12.41% increase in the overall wage bill, with a 14% hike in basic pay and dearness allowance.
The revision also includes an increase in the National Pension System (NPS) contribution from 10% to 14% for employees who joined after April 1, 2010. Family pension has been revised to a uniform rate of 30% from the date of publication in the official gazette, benefiting 14,615 family pensioners. The total outgo for this revision is estimated to be Rs 8,170.30 crore, which includes arrears of wage revision, NPS contributions, and family pension.
In addition to the wage revision, the government has also approved a pension revision for retirees of NABARD and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). For NABARD, the hike in pay and allowances is approximately 20% for all Group ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ employees, effective from November 1, 2022. This will benefit around 3,800 serving and former employees. The pension revision for NABARD retirees who were originally recruited by NABARD and retired before November 1, 2017, has been brought on par with that of ex-RBI NABARD retirees.
The government has also approved the revision of pension and family pension to the retirees of the RBI, which will result in an effective enhancement of basic pension by a factor of 1.43 for all retirees. This revision will benefit a total of 30,769 beneficiaries, comprising 22,580 pensioners and 8,189 family pensioners. The total financial implication for this revision is estimated to be Rs 2,696.82 crore, which includes a one-time expenditure of Rs 2,485.02 crore towards arrears and a recurring annual expenditure of Rs 211.80 crore.
The PSGICs that will be affected by this revision include National Insurance Company Ltd., New India Assurance Company Ltd., Oriental Insurance Company Ltd., United India Insurance Company Ltd., General Insurance Corporation of India, and Agricultural Insurance Company Ltd. The wage and pension revisions are expected to improve the financial well-being of the employees and retirees of these organizations.