8th Annual IIEF Pension Policy Conference, 30 April 2008

The 8th annual IIEF pension policy conference was hosted against the backdrop of a variety of recent policy and regulatory initiatives to effectively bridge India's social security coverage gap. These include efforts on (a) implementing the NPS institutional architecture for federal and state government employees using UTI, LIC and SBI as pension fund managers and NSDL as the CRA, (b) broad-basing the coverage of old age pensions among the destitute elderly, (c) review of the investment guidelines and investment implementation for employer-led pension and provident funds, (d) the new Unorganised Workers Social Security Bill of the Ministry of Labour and Employment aimed at delivering social assistance to the lifetime poor, (e) launch of targeted co-contributions based retirement savings schemes for the poor by state governments, and (f) efforts by IIMPS, SEWA and UTI on delivering contributory micro-pension and insurance schemes to low income informal sector workers across multiple States.

This year's conference brought all stakeholders from the region under one roof to examine potential synergies in system design and implementation. Participants reviewed the policy and regulatory imperatives and impediments in delivering equitable rights and choices to members of various existing pension provisions in India. The conference took an informed, segmented view of India's pension coverage gap and examined appropriate public policy, regulatory and business responses to maximise voluntary pension coverage among workers who can afford meaningful pension contributions. New ideas on mass-outreach and strategies for delivering above poverty replacements to low income workers were also discussed.