New pension scheme for anganwadi workers okayed

Rs 500 a month for workers, Rs 350 a month for helpers

Briefing reporters after a Cabinet meeting here, Higher Education Minister V S Acharya said anganwadi workers will get an honorary gratuity of Rs 50,000 each following superannuation and anganwadi helpers will get Rs 30,000 each.

Anganwadi workers will also get a monthly pension of Rs 500 a month. The pension will be Rs 350 a month for helpers.

Of the 63,000 registered anganwadis, 3,000 will come under the pension scheme from March this year, Acharya said.

The scheme suggests a cut of Rs 150 from monthly honorarium of workers and Rs 75 from that of assistants. The government will contribute an equal amount.

Expressing their disappointment at the government’s decision, the Karnataka State Anganwadi Workers’ Union has decided to launch an agitation next month.

The union has long been demanding that the State cover the workers under the old pension scheme and not under the new scheme that has been approved by the Cabinet.
In November 2010, workers across the State held a massive rally for four days demanding pension under the old scheme. The agitation was withdrawn after Minister for Women and Child Development C C Patil met protesters and assured them that the State would consider enrolling them under the old pension scheme.

“The pensions will be deposited under a unit-linked investment plan. The government has assured us of a 10 per cent interest plan. But the current rate of interest is only seven per cent. We do not want our pensions to be linked to the fluctuations of the share market. In case of a loss, we do not know if the government would refund that amount along with the 10 per cent interest,” Union joint secretary Saroja S said.

Film policy

A draft film policy prepared by the Kannada and Culture department, which also proposes to ban shooting of films in Lalbagh and Cubbon Park, was placed before the Cabinet for consideration.

The policy focuses mainly on subsidy, tax exemptions and awards. The policy is aimed at promoting “good” movies that do not glorify crime, obscenity, anti-social activities or rake up communal feelings.

The policy proposes to provide Rs 25 lakh each as subsidy for four films based on history, Rs 15 lakh each for two films based on literary works besides Rs 10 lakh each for 50 quality Kannada original films.

A draft Karnataka agri-business development policy to create an environment for attracting investment in agro- processing and value addition sectors through public-private partnership was also placed before the Cabinet for consideration. The draft policy envisages setting up a “Karnataka agri-business development corporation” to act as a single window and monitoring institution for the entire sector. The vision of the policy is to achieve profitability in the agriculture sector through linkages.

Former additional chief secretary Abhijit Das Gupta and retired district judge Musa Kunjhi Nayara Male will be appointed administrative and judicial members of Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, respectively, Acharya said.

An eight-point action plan on stone-crushing units submitted before the Karnataka High Court will be considered by the Cabinet for formulating a policy.