Scrapped Indian pension scheme was not popular among workers

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Scrapped Indian pension scheme was not popular among workers

Dubai - The Indian Workers Resources Centres (IWRC) call centres said they have details of the new pension scheme, but no details about the MGPSY.

By VM Sathish

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Published: Thu 16 Feb 2017, 9:00 PM

Last updated: Thu 16 Feb 2017, 11:42 PM

A number of Indian expatriates have expressed their apprehensions about the scrapping of a central government pension scheme for overseas workers.
The Indian missions in the UAE as well as service providers of the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana (MGPSY), are in the dark about how the Indian blue-collar workers, who opted for the much publicised pension scheme, will be treated now that the scheme stands cancelled.
The Indian Embassy is awaiting an official response from the Ministry of External Affairs to determine the future of the workers who have opted for the pensions scheme. According to officials, the tepid response to the scheme is to be blamed for the cancellation of the scheme. The Indian Workers Resources Centres (IWRC) call centres said they have details of the new pension scheme, but no details about the MGPSY.
"There were many reasons for the poor response. It was not a very popular scheme among blue-collar workers because it was not voluntary. The details about the number of subscribers also is not with the embassy.
"We are expecting some announcement about how the MGPSY subscribers will be migrated to any other scheme or a new scheme will be announced," an official from Indian Embassy's Community division, Abu Dhabi, told Khaleej Times.
The UAE Exchange had tied up with Alankit Assignments two years ago for the pension scheme, which did not take off well.
Pramod Mangat, UAE Exchange CEO, when contacted by Khaleej Times, said that whatever money was collected from the blue-collar workers through a joint initiative with Dubai-based Alankit Assignments, was transferred to the Indian government bodies concerned. He said that the money exchange is not aware of how the subscribers will be compensated after the scheme is discontinued. 
"The scheme is already closed and we stopped working for the scheme long ago," an official from Alankit Dubai office told Khaleej Times.
Award for 12 blue-collar workers from across GCC nations
An Abu Dhabi-based radio channel will honour 12 Indian workers from different GCC countries with international labour awards.
Former chief minister of the Indian state of Kerala, VS Achuthanandan, announced the details of the award, whose winners will be declared on May 1.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Chandra Senan, managing director of Pravasi Bharathi Broadcasting Corporation, said the winners will be given a token life-long monthly pension of Rs1,000. The move is to encourage the Kerala government to look into the rehabilitation and welfare of non-resident Keralites who constitute a considerable chunk of the state's population. Workers from 12 different fields will be honoured. "Instead of honouring celebrities, we thought of recognising the common man who constitute the majority of neglected expatriates," said Senan.
satish@khaleejtimes.com
 


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