SHILLONG:
The state government has failed to transfer Rs 79 lakh to the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on state finances.
“As on March 2021, an amount of Rs 79 lakhs was not transferred to NSDL. In terms of the guidelines, the state government was liable to pay interest on funds not transferred to NSDL,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the pension payments including other retirement benefits indicated an increasing trend during the five year period 2016-21. Pension payments during the current year had increased by Rs 62.05 crore, an increase of 5.48 percentage over the previous year.
As on March 31, 2020, there were 13,242 employees under NPS of which 12,776 employees had been allotted permanent retirement account number (PRAN).
The National Pension Scheme (NPS) is applicable to all new entrants joining state government services on or after April 1, 2010.
Under this system, employees contribute 10 per cent basic pay and dearness allowance, which is matched by the state government and both employee’s and employer’s contribution are initially transferred to the public account.
The state government has the responsibility to deposit both employee’s and employer’s share with the designated authority – National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL)/trustee bank for further investment as per the guidelines of NPS.
The state government opens a current account with the bank for parking the funds before transfer to NSDL.