A Trim Line Bible

Unless a person has plans to study theology or take the pulpit or is given some responsibility in the affairs of the Church, excuses come in handy before one turns to read the Bible. A person is likely to go through the morning papers while having breakfast, tear away midway through reading reports about Champions League. If you are living in big cities there is the unavoidable task of rubbing shoulders with co-passengers in city buses or navigating through the maze of city traffic. That you are racing against time with deadlines to be met is hardly a reason for concern and you only thank God for being a part of a great system. And when you get back home you hardly have time to freshen up before dinner because when you finally settle down for the day the clock strikes 12.

You feel that the Bible knowledge you have accumulated through attending Sunday school and worship services is more than sufficient. The Christian background you have inherited have prepared you so well that even in drunken stupor you often quote the scripture over a glass of country. So what would you do even if you have an expensive English Bible?

In the year 1994, I was voted to the Children Department and the Youth Department with landslide emotion followed by Ministry formation. And I gathered up Secretary Record Books of the two Departments. That was an additional responsibility. I was already the custodian of some record books of the village youth club.

As the new responsibilities related to non-secular matters, the theme of a Bible crusade rang in my ears. “Back to the Bible”. The Paite Holy Bible gifted by a maternal uncle came in handy. However after a number of Sundays-Tuesday-Thursday week days I virtually ran out of stories stocked in my head like the story of David and Goliath, Joseph, Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, etc. It’s not always expedient to relate stories everyone knew. If I studied Christian Education of Evangelical Fellowship of India (CEEFI) guidebooks that merely prepared me for taking Sunday school classes. Sometimes I had to lead the children in devotion sessions which take place just before the start of regular classes. Also the fact that I don't have a good vocal cord or a musical talent also tended to mess up matters.

I could hardly reminisce any lessons learnt from the scripture classes and Vocation Bible Schools that could be related to the children.  International Correspondence Institute (ICI) had conferred so many certificates upon me in recognition of my knowledge of the Bible. But what was that which I knew and which was acknowledged by ICI? Sadly I couldn’t recall any substantial lesson. Hoping to find some of the ICI booklets and study materials, I rummaged through the book shelf. There were a handful of copies of the old Readers’ Digest issues that goes as far back as 1976, so many issues of Kristian Thukizakna, the monthly publication of the erstwhile ECC (renamed EBCC since 1998), worn out copies of gazetteers of the world whose pages indicating identities of the publisher or editor had long gone, etc. I just couldn’t find a single copy of the publications from ICI which I hoped could be useful in Christian leadership. A copy of Jean Bruce’s Hotline that always occupied the book shelf whose cover picture I marveled over the years until I was finally able to understand English, gave me no relief either. My attempt to arm myself with deeper biblical knowledge was not making headway. While believing that reading the word of God in English could have given me a better view of Christianity, I made no further attempt.

In 1996 the degree course results were declared by Manipur University and I became a graduate. I also had received an offer of appointment from C-II Hutments, Army Headquarters. And off I went to Delhi.

20 years on I play a part in the secretarial work of Indian Parliament where one is tempted to work on Sundays during peak times. Most often I choose to attend the Church. The 29^th April, 2012 was observed as Bible Sunday and EBCC hosted brother Rajender from the Bible Society of India (BSI).

Brother Rajender praised the EBCC for being a source of blessing to BSI in many ways through contributions, prayer and motivational talks, etc. He enlightened the congregation about the aim of BSI which is to translate the Bible into the various Indian languages, print and distribute them at affordable/subsidized rates so that it can reach as many people as possible and that the demand for the Holy Bible is growing day by day.

The honor of becoming part of BSI was so simple when Rajender explained how: keep a BSI box in your home and drop one rupee every day which will come to three hundred and sixty five in a year, and that can gift a Bible each to 3 persons who don’t have them. That’s about distributing copies of an already translated, already published Bible. The more challenging task of BSI lies in the fact that Bible translation has not been accomplished even in a quarter of the 1650 Indian languages.

An outsider, who on a first visit to the Church trying to persuade us to give offers, is a turn off to my sub-conscious. So when Rajender encouraged the congregation to become part of BSI my reaction was that of ‘indifference’. It only reminded me that I still own no copy of an English Bible.

Kim has been serving in the Police Department since the year 2001. Since our marriage in 2006 she used to say that I need a trim line English Bible. 

During the tea fellowship that follows regular worship service in my Church, Kim said that it’s a good occasion to get a decent copy of the holy Bible. On enquiry however I didn't find a good one.

Parliament was in session and being in Question Branch mean that you have to process so many questions within a stipulated time. And when I plunged back to the sphere of Questions, my anxiety was over again.

On Friday the 4^th of May a certain mister Ramesh talked to me over phone and asked whether I’d take the New International Version (NIV) or King James Version (KJV). My mind quickly flipped back to the brief liaison I had with a BSI guy the last Sunday.

Since I prefer to use the poetically worded version of the Bible, I asked of Ramesh how Psalms 23 was written in the KJV and the NIV. Unfortunately he was not able to tell the difference, so I asked him to bring both versions of the Bible.

Under the sweltering heat of the sun Ramesh recognized me. He more than made up his lack of knowledge of the scripture by his good conduct in terms of protocol. When I opened the KJV Psalms 23 says:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The lines were still the same as how I remembered. The voice of my niece’s stuttering the famous David’s song came to my mind. Now it’s confirmed that’s also from KJV. The Bible was so cute; it fits even in my trouser pocket. The three notes of 500 INR I handed over to the BSI guy are more than enough for the finely handcrafted treasure.

As regards contributions to BSI, I'd have to think about it later on!   

The Supper

Across the busy traffic of the early evening circulating through the network of ring roads, the Chief with a bevy of dark onyx eyed progeny kept cursing, his wife dutifully listening as she sat by. The juniors aged 2 to 8 were playing upon the bed. The eldest one was acting as teacher. She taught her siblings how to jump, how to handle a pencil and paint without spilling. Lately the kids have learnt to appreciate the unique taste of blood. They particularly liked human blood. The eldest of them have started to distinguish between blood of a veggie and that of a non-veggie. She would temp kids of the veggie household onto her side, always kept them busy and became red with anger the moment she sees another non-veggie trying to cozy up with them. A knock came on the door and the eldest one immediately responded by calling out ‘RP’ aloud. She jumped off and ran toward the door. The manner in which she knew the identity of the visitor was not human, but that was not a matter of wonder to the householders, or to the just arrived group of adults. They glided in and settled upon the furniture set in circle. The Chief was still unable to get over the trauma that darkened his psyche since the coming of the one in a networking site, which according to him was all but an attempt to eclipse and humiliate him. He had stopped cursing and murmuring, yet he was still boiling inside when RP ordered his comrades to place the trophies on the table. The smell of blood emanating from the lid of the bottle told the Chief that this could be a turning point in his life. He looked at his wife, who understandably stole out from the pack and joined her kids. She was beaming with pride on the manner how comrades took good care of her husband. She loves to join her kids play games. And when she jumped over the bed, her youngest child told her to not create a stir, so that the game could continue undisturbed. She forgot everything that happened behind her in the living room. R P made sure that not a drop was wasted as he was filling the varied sizes of canisters laid upon the table. MP was ceremonious relating the way how he lifted a hammer over the head of the innocent: “I could feel intensity with which the atmosphere was charged. Yes!! The atmosphere was highly charged with hatred. Even the Roman senate was raged with anger not because of the royal imcompetence. Rome could not relish the idea of a statesman shining. Even Delhi wassn't ready to see an innocent basking in the SUN. I could smell the existence of an opportunity to advance my ambition, which incited me to take the decision” he said. “Even I found it hard, and comrates I almost falter, due to which I prayed silently, ‘Father, this is my hour of sadness. I commit my life unto thee. But if thou wilt, thou wouldst turn this cup away from me’ “. Saying this MP had a bead of sweat on his forehead. And he continued, “But I saw no sign, and I went ahead. Comrades, I did fell a giant innocent. And when I drank deep from his anguish, behold I was changed!!!” He followed up with more of the stories, “About the same time that night, when I had enough of the pure blood…” lifting a cup each on his hands, he paused for a while before he continued, “ I knew that the blood was a tonic, a life line, worth sharing with colleagues and comrades. But I was at a lost as to how the powerful one would prevail” Then he handed over the two cups one to RP and another to GP, and as he slowly picked up the rest of the cups, continued, “And now we have a wonderful moment to draw life at the expense of the innocent one” He then handed over the cup in his right hand to the chief thus retaining the other cup for himself. Then he turned his gaze upward and said, “Comrades, I beseech you to drink from your respective cups. This is a pure blood, an innocent blood, a blood that would give you the power to change people’s mind. Drink to your heart’s content so that you may remember the manner how I gathered a steady multitude of following since I first drank it seven years ago” Silently they all drank deep from their respective cups. The silence was again broken by MP with a chant: “Oh Mighty one, God of the Stubborn egoists, Upholder of Prejudice, Slayer of Talent, Lord of the Pretenders, The ultimate mobilizer of the Parasites, In whose service we wrested the stands, the dias, The files and the entire sanctuaries of the Holy Trinity, For the execution of whose command, We commissioned armies of blood thirsty opportunists, Oh Mighty one, Let the power of this blood spill like wild fire, And before the Lambs could turn to leave, Let them blood thirsty comrades, Over run the length and breadth of the land of milk and honey!!" Amen!! Amen!! Amen!!

Sunday Worship Service 18.03.2012

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and songs.

Psalms 95: 1-2

The stillness that lingers in the hall provided a moment for quiet contemplation. In a short opening prayer, the pastor distinctively dedicated the musical instruments, the hymn, the worship team, the speakers and all elements of the worship, to the hand of God. He implored the presence and fellowship of the Holy Spirit with the gathering and the shut-ins.

The worship team consists of Mrs Mankhodim, Mrs Nemkhanmawi, Ms Florence Sonkim, L/Upa Songzalian, Ms Ching Lydia, Mr. Pumsuanlal, Mr. Thangsuanmung and Mr. Ginminlun.

When keyboardist Paulalsiam punched in the chords for Dongzahau Tombing’s masterpiece “Hong Phatning”- I’ll Praise You, it only took a couple of heartbeats to figure out what the first selected hymn for the day was. In sync with the worship team’s lead, the congregation sang their conviction to croon praises just as the birds in the sky does. The multi-media display of the lyrics by Mr Rinom stood by to assist. And when the team steered the gathering into “Nearer, My God to Thee” BNL No. 95, the tone turned personal; It reminded one of Jacob’s ladder, it reminded one of the sinking Titanic, and of course the insignificance of anything other than the soul. Then the worship continued in the form of mass prayer. Towards the end of the mass, the team led the congregation into chanting-

“Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art! (repeat)

The song leader, Thangsuanmung’s concluding prayer was endorsed with “amen”. The faint thread of musical solo revived once again to continue the eulogy back from the first verse- “O Lord, My God..” Meanwhile the offering bowl was passed on through the rows of seat attended by the ushers. Upa Kaithang pleaded upon God to accept the offering as precious in His sight.

Three youngsters who have underwent water Baptism the previous Sunday, in confirmation of their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, were given Baptismal Certificate. Upa Damsawmthang, Local Chairman, handed over the certificates.

The Church was fortunate to host two guests. Pastor Lawrence Gangte needed no official introduction as his had been a familiar face already. He intimated the brothers and sisters in Christ about his plans to administer baptism to new converts in Bhatinda, Punjab wherefrom he would return to his base in Balrampur, said he needed a overarching guidance of God. That’s a prayer request.

It was the other guest who was fresh to the gathering. Evan Sawmthang serves the Lord through the India Evangelical Mission (IEM), as is Pastor Lawrence. Having a Nepali look earned him a nickname of Gurung. He feels at home in Dehradun as he shuttles between one EBCC family to the other, where resides a handful of them. The high school drop-out found it an honor to teach class-X students, which he acknowledged as God’s manifestation in his life. He had just one request- pray for a new chapel to worship in Dehradun.

The spiritual nourishment for the day is drawn from Matthew chapter 22, verses 34-40.


34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’]38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Amid the spirit of fraternity between the Pharisees and Sadducees, slight differences existed between the two groups.

-Pharisees accepted the Law of Moses and oral tradition side by side as authoritative. They believed in angels, the devil and are fanatically upholding the Jewish tradition.

-Also Jewish by lineage, the Sadducees were able to tolerate even the Greek culture. They didn’t accept oral tradition. They didn’t believe in angels, the devil or the theory of resurrection. But they had the knack of studying or digging into the literal implication of the Law of Moses. They bifurcated the Ten Commandments into 613 classes- 248 affirmative and 365 negative.

Connection with the master as per the Old Testament (OT) tradition hangs on individual’s conformity with the Ten Commandments as also sacrificial offerings. Author of a thesis, “What is the real connection with God in the OT?”. Pastor Nenglian Vualnam took personal interest in the topic of “Relationship”.

According to the New Testament (NT) the first pre-requisite of a Relationship with God call for ‘Loving God at the expense of everything (v 37)- the Heart (inner affection), the Soul (the one element that doesn’t die) and the Mind (including the imaginational thoughts). Thus a true relationship naturally leads to change in ‘value system’

Secondly, true relationship with the master is manifested through “Loving the things that the Master Loves” (v 39). The biblical mandates in this direction are evident through the lines such as-

■Love thy neighbour as thyself ( Matthew 22:39)
■Love one another (St John 13:34)
■Love the Lost Soul and pray for them ( Matthew 28:19-20)
A glaring example of such Love was found in the case of a white missionary who pleaded to God just before landing in a Tokyo airport, “O Lord make me love these complete strangers, just the way you Love them”

The short and sweet message was concluded with a prayer. Before walking the isles towards the Church entrance, the pastor reminded/announced-

-the call for meeting of BDF executive in Conference after the service

-the inter-departmental fellowship with Rev. Dr. Gin Neithang and wife on their arrival on Thursday, the 22nd from Chiangmai

-the closure of registration for the Young Couples Seminar on that day

-the upcoming Sunday worship service to be addressed by the Guest from Chiangmai

-upcoming Bless India Festival in Thyagaray Stadium from March 29 to 31

-BDF and BYF fellowships continuing, so are the prayer cell wise fellowships

With minimum words and maximum emphasis, Upa Dr. Langkham blessed the congregation with benediction.

Even as the congregation was shaking hands with the anointed ones on their way to the tea stand, the worship team couldn’t help plunge into another hymn “Jesus Loves Even Me”. It’s a way to make up with the paucity of time. They prepared for the coming Sunday. And they shouted to the Lord, praising the wonders of His mighty love. All at the same time.



@T.Lianpu (Media Team)

http://ebccdelhi.org/activities/latest-news/215-congregation-worship-march-18-2012.html

Joint Fellowship 05.03.2012

 

Joint Fellowship 05.03.2012

The ushers provided copies of the Delhi EBCC Weekly (DEW) and escorted members and guests to pews as a soft prelude music played by the keyboardist filled the air.

The worship service was led by song leaders from Central Delhi. Charged with emotion the gathering of brethren in Christ is a time for recounting the blessings of God through the years; the seed of such worship blessed fellowship with God was sown when a handful of Central Government employees met in a 10X12 foot room of a member. As promised in the Holy Bible, God has kept company to the ‘gathered in His Name’. Presently the fellowship had grown into two full fledged churches.

Thanggoulun the worship team leader guided the gathering in responsive reading of alternate lines titled, "Pathian' hoihna leh thupina" - The goodness and greatness of God. Then he offered prayer asking the indwelling of the Spirit in the service. The chorus of "Amen from the gathering was followed by a musical solo playing for the evergreen gospel hymn "He Leadeth Me" - Biaknalate (BNL) Number 208. Assisted with multimedia display of the lyrics, the gathering made a joyful noise unto the Lord. There from the worshipers were taken to another level with "It Is well with my soul" (BNL 111). The hymn reminded the worshipers of the unsinkable faith displayed by Horatio Spafford in the face of adversity.

Thereafter the mode or worship slipped over from songs to mass prayer. That was a time to forget about sorrows that billows like a sea and say ‘it is well with my soul’

The musical interlude sustained the dying sound of prayer, there there was quiet contemplation. Then the song leader offered prayer aloud so that the congregation could respond by singing “amen”.

The spiritual and mental unity of the two churches was an answer to relentless prayers, an answer which runs down like an ointment from Aron’s head, to his beard down to the skirts of his garment. As Upa K. Tualzapau, Local Chairman of EBCC CD, read out Psalms 133 to the gathering he gave emphasis on the mention, in the Bible, of the beard and garment, the first ordained priest.

As characteristic of a joint fellowship, the worship session was interspersed with presentations from an array of vocal choirs - Dwarka Worship Team, Dwarka Baptist Youth Fellowship (BYF) and Central Delhi BYF. The first presentation from the Dwarka Worship Team was hearth warming. The song titled, "Toupa I zuan ding uh"- Let's take pride in the Lord, the work of the musical legend Pumkhothang was presented even as the ushers brought forward the free will offering. The offering was dedicated to the custody of God by Upa Kamsuanthang, Secretary to EBCC Delhi Local Upa Committee.

Right after worship in offering, the BYF Central Delhi presented an exciting special number, "Laukha Siangthou"- Holy Spirit.

When the BYF Dwarka presented a hit single "Zesu Hoih zaw hi", another work of Pumkhothang, just about everyone in worship service hummed along thus consolidating their conviction in making Lord Jesus tower over all earthly riches and virtues in their lives.

Ahead of conducting pastoral prayer, Pastor V. Nenglian, Local Pastor of EBCC Delhi had to convey the news about the sad demise of (Late) Pastor Chinkhotuan early the day before in New Lamka. In his customary pastoral prayer, he invoked the Power of the Holy Spirit for the security and growth of the church members individually.

The gospel message for the worship service was delivered by Pastor G. Kamzamuan who has taken charge of Central Delhi since June 25, 2011. He read the epistle to the Ephesians as recorded in Revelations 2:1-7. He ridiculed with no reservation, the act of EBC Church, of having left their first love (for Christ). The works, the labour, the patience, the hatred for evil, the zeal for purging evil elements and other virtues that characterized the Church of Ephesus is present in no small measure with the EBC Church. But in the absence of an honest Love for God, all the efforts of the Church are nothing but a waste of energy.

Brother L.B. Sona, Chairman, Zomi Council, the eldest son of (Late) Siamkung, the pioneer of Church planting in the south district of Manipur was ceremoniously welcomed in the service. The brother who was in Delhi for official purpose informed the gathering that he had come to the Church to give credit to God and the Church members for the warmth they felt during the departure of his father to his heavenly abode in January 26, 2012.

Special number from Miss Chingngaihlun and friends from Central Delhi preceded the address by L/Upa Khamkhansuan of the visiting Church. Halting though, the speech from the newly elected elder/Upa gave light to the genesis and growth of the EBCC Central Delhi. The passionate presentation of the statistical details gave nostalgia and cheers.

Apart from the above, the worship service witnessed announcement of invitation to the congregation to grace the upcoming ceremonies by members like wedding and unveiling of epitaph/memorial stone.

As Upa Damsawmthang, Local Chairman to the EBCC Delhi, read the word of God "Search me...." the devotees remembered the manner in which the Church began its journey 20 years ago and how God the provider has done unimaginable good to the Church.

The last hymn, "When we all get to heaven" BNL-336, seemed appropriately selected as it gave a peek into the state of joyfulness awaiting Christians in Heaven.

The last blessing for the gathering was showered through benediction by the first anointed elder in the history of EBCC in Delhi, Upa G. Zamkhothang who is presently holding the post of Vice Chairman EBCC, Central Delhi.

Thereafter the worshipers departed with a harmonious musical postlude.

http://ebccdelhi.org/activities/latest-news/210-joint-worship-service-of-ebc-churches-in-delhi.html

The New Pension System

The New Pension System

Establishment

Prior to 2004, only about 12-13 percent of the total workforce was covered by any normal social security system. In order to establish a robust and sustainable social security arrangement in the country, the New Pension System (NPS) was introduced by the Government from January 1, 2004 for new entrants to the Central Government service, except the Armed Forces and was extended to the general public from May 1, 2009 on a voluntary basis. Based on individual choice, it is envisaged as a low-cost and efficient pension system backed by sound regulation.

On joining Government service, an employee is allotted a unique Personal Pension Account Number (PPAN). This unique account number remains with the subscriber always and from any location even if he/she changes employment. The PPAN provides two personal accounts, viz. a mandatory Tier-I pension account, and a voluntary Tier-II savings account.

To clarify the difference between Tier-I and Tier-II account, it may be stated that in Tier-I employees joining Government service since January 1, 2004 are mandated to contribute 10% of basic+DA into NPS account. Withdrawing of savings from this account is not allowed till attainment of 60 years of age. The monthly contributions and savings in this account, subject to a ceiling to be decided by the government, will be exempt from income tax. These savings will only be taxed at the time of withdrawal. On retirement a subscriber under Tier-I account will be able to withdraw 60% of his/her savings as a lump sum and the balance 40% will go to purchase an annuity scheme from a life insurance company of his/her choice, from which he/she will draw a monthly pension for life. On the other hand Tier-II account is simply a voluntary savings facility for contributions and savings with no facilities for tax advantages. But the subscriber is free to withdraw savings under Tier-II as per his/her wishes.



Investment of the Fund

The NPS Trust was established by PFRDA on 27 February, 2008. The composition of the Trust is given below:-

1. Sh Yogendra Narain Chairman
2. Sh. N>R> Rayalu Trustee & CEO
3. Sh Umraomal Purohit Trustee
4. Sh. G. N. Bajpai Trustee
5. Sh. Naresh Dayal Trustee

NPS was operational for the Central Government Employees (except defense forces) joining the service on or after 1.1.2004. Subsequently the State Governments have also started joining the NPS. Three Fund managers as mentioned below were appointed to manage the Funds of the Government employees with effect from 1.1.2008:-

(i) SBI Pension Funds Private Limited;
(ii) UTI Retirement Solutions Limited;
(iii) LIC Pension Fund Limited.

As the NPS was opened up for all citizens of India with effect from 01 May 2009, the interim PFRDA appointed six Pension Fund Managers to manage the funds of the new subscribers as follows:-

(i) SBI Pension Funds Private Limited;
(ii) UTI Retirement Solutions Limited;
(iii) ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company limited;
(iv) Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited;
(v) IDFC Pension Fund Management Company Limited;
(vi) Reliance Capital Pension Fund Limited.

Agreements with all the Pension Fund Managers have been signed. Agreement has also been signed with the Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd. (SHCIL) who acts as custodian of investment Instruments.

A quarterly review of the Pension Fund managers is carried out by the NPS Trust to review and evaluate the performance of the Fund Managers and make suggestions for improvement.

The NPS provides various investment options and choices to individuals to switch over from one option to another or from one fund manager to another, subject to certain regulatory restrictions. The Pension Fund Managers (PFMs) manage three separate schemes consisting of three asset classes, namely (i) equity, (ii) Government securities and (iii) credit risk-bearing fixed income instruments, with the investment in equity subject to a cap of 50 per cent. The fund managers will invest only in index funds that replicate either the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index or National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 index. The subscriber will have the option to decide the investment mix of his pension wealth. In case the subscriber is unable/unwilling to exercise any choice regarding asset allocation, his contribution will be invested in accordance with the “auto choice” option with a predefined portfolio.

The funds of the Central Government subscribers under NPS were invested in specific financial instruments by the pension fund managers with effect from (w.e.f.) 02 April, 2008 and State Government subscribers w.e.f. 01 May, 2009. The performance of the three pension fund managers for the Central Government employees indicate that the returns on subscribers’ contributions under NPS ranged between 16.38% and 8.05% during the period 2008-09 to 2010-11. For the period 2009-10 and 2010-11, the returns in Tier-I of NPS for unorganized sector workers ranged between 12.52% and 1.82% for the Government securities, 12.66% and 4.02% for the corporate bonds and 25.94% and 7.95% for equity. Details of year-wise return since inception in percentage terms is as under:


Year Central Government Employees State Government Employees
Highest Return Lowest Return Highest Return Lowest Return
2008-09 16.38 12.38
2009-10 12.27 8.88 6.34 5.94
2010-11 8.45 8.05 11.34 9.88



Regulator

The Interim PFRDA, set up as a regulatory body for the pension sector, pending the passage of the Bill in Parliament, is engaged in consolidating the initiatives taken so far regarding the full NPS architecture and expanding the reach of the NPS distribution network. The full NPS architecture comprising a Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) viz. The National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), 3 Pension Fund Managers (PFMs), Trustee Bank viz. Bank of India (BOI), Custodian viz. Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd. and NPS Trust, has been put in place and is fully operational. Provisions for making the Authority financially autonomous have been made by the Government through the PFRDA Bill, 2011.

The Bill

The Pension Fund Regulation and Development Authority Bill, 2005 (PFRDA Bill) was introduced in Lok Sabha in March, 2005 and the official amendments in January, 2009. However the Bill lapsed on dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha. In the Budget for the year 2011-12, the Government has announced its proposal to move the revised PFRDA Bill. The Department related Standing Committee on Finance, to whom the revised Bill was referred for examination, presented the report to Parliament on 30 August, 2011. A provision has been made in the Bill for ensuring financial autonomy of the PFRDA.



NPS-Lite

NPS Lite has been developed with the objective of providing old age income security to various economically disadvantaged sections of society. These will be availing various features in NPS-Lite through their representing institutions. Such institutions selected/designated by PFRDA are called “aggregators‟. Aggregators shall be responsible for – (i) Registration of designated offices of the Aggregator, (ii) Subscriber Registration, (iii) Regular Contribution Uploading, (iv) Subscriber Servicing and (v) Grievance Handling. Besides policy/guidelines governing the aggregators are being issued from time to time. The NPS-Lite architecture may best be illustrated as:-

Swavalamban

The Government of India is extremely concerned about the old age income security of the working poor and is focused on encouraging and enabling them to join the NPS. To address this problem, the Union Finance Minister has made the following announcements in the Budget Speech for the year 2010-11:

“ To encourage the people from the un-organized sector to voluntarily save for their retirement and to lower the cost of operations of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) for such subscribers, Government will contribute Rs. 1000 per year to each NPS account opened in the year 2010-11. This initiative, “Swavalamban” will be available for persons who join NPS, with a minimum contribution of Rs. 1000 and a maximum contribution of Rs. 12000 per annum during the financial year 2010-11. The scheme will be available for another three years. Accordingly, I am making an allocation of Rs. 100 crore for the year 2010-11. It will benefit about Rs. 10 lakh NPS subscribers of the un- organized sector. The scheme will be managed by the interim Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

I also appeal to the State Governments to contribute a similar amount to the scheme and participate in providing social security to the vulnerable sections of the society.”

The Finance Minister has formally launched the Swavalamban Scheme on 26.09.2010 at Jangipur (West Bengal). The PFRDA will implement the Swavalamban Scheme through a network of Aggregators, such as, Government agencies, Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Ltd. or NGOs.

In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee to ‘Review Implementation of Informal Sector Pension’ (CRIISP), the benefit of government co-contribution under Swavalamban Scheme has been extended from three to five years for all subscribers of Swavalamban who enroll during 2010-11 and 2011-12. Also the NPS has already been included in the Financial Inclusion strategy by grant of Rs. 50 crore to PFRDA by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), which is the nodal agency for implementation of the scheme of ‘Financial Inclusion Task Force’.

Response of the States

The NPS has been well received by the State Governments/UT Administrations which have notified similar schemes for their employees under the ambit of the NPS. The PFRDA has been working with all the States to enable them to log on to the NPS architecture with ease. NPS Trust and CRA have been in continuous dialogue with State Governments/Union Territories for facilitating their entry into the NPS. About 22 States/UTs have already signed agreements with CRA and the NPS Trust. However, till December 24, 2010, only 16 State Governments/UT Administrations have registered their Nodal offices and subscribers with CRA, out of which 4 States / UTs have not initiated fund / data upload.

On the issue of response to the scheme from some states being relatively weak in terms of upload of funds to the NPS architecture, the Ministry has clarified in reply to Unstarred Question No 3991 given in Lok Sabha on 03.12.2010 that such shortcomings are internal to the states/UT administrations concern.

The Finance Minister had, in his Budget Speech and also in his series of meetings with the Chief Ministers of the State Governments, appealed to all the State /UT Governments to consider a scheme similar co-contributory pension schemes of Swavalamban for the workers of un-organized sector. In response to the appeal of the Finance Minister, two states, namely Haryana and Karnataka have already announced co-contributory schemes for specific occupational groups for the workers in the un-organized sector promising to contribute Rs. 1200 per annum over and above the subscribers’ contribution and the contribution of the Central Government under Swavalamban Initiative. It is expected that many more States may join the Central Government initiative giving this a truly national character and this would help in addressing the challenge of meeting old age income security of the entire population of the working poor.

Efforts are under way to extend the reach of the NPS to new segments like Central and State autonomous bodies and the organized sector and introduce micro pension initiatives focusing on a low cost model of the NPS to be implemented through SHGs and similar bodies. More than 250 Central autonomous bodies have evinced interest in joining the NPS. Several State Government autonomous bodies and undertakings are in dialogue with the PFRDA for extending the NPS to their employees.

Publicity

The recent global financial turmoil raised many issues about governance of financial intermediaries and awareness of investors. Investor awareness is a prerequisite for investor protection. In fact, investor protection and education are two sides of the same coin. Neither of the two can have the desired impact in isolation. A simultaneous and co-ordinated effort on both fronts would help investors take well informed financial decisions besides protecting their interests and ensuring orderly conditions in markets. Greater effort, therefore, is needed for investor education and promoting investors’ protection. In order to popularize NPS amongst the investors including employees working in private sector, the interim PFRDA has put in place a Financial Literacy programme to create investor awareness and create adequate publicity amongst the target groups. The programme includes:

(i) Setting up of a website (pfrda.org.in)
(ii) Dedicated help desk with a toll free number, which helps disseminate information on NPS and responds to the queries of the prospective clients
(iii) Print and media campaign to popularize the NPS.

As a result of the efforts made in regulation, implementation and other publicity measures, the NPS is currently available for all citizens including workers in the unorganized sector, through nearly 4866 service provider (SP) branches of 35 Points of Presence (PoP). The PFRDA has also recently appointed the Department of Posts as PoP in addition to seven other financial institutions which will expand the PoP-SP network by more than five times. Thus NPS implementation in the Central Government has stabilized with more than 23 lakh subscribers already registered under the NPS upto 03 August, 2011 including 7.9 lakh of the Central Government, 7.7 lakh of the State / UT Governments, more than 40,000 workers of central autonomous bodies, about 43,000 workers of un-organized sectors, around 9,000 from corporate sector and about 7.3 lakh NPS-Lite subscribers.

Parliament Questions raised by Members on the NPS

Sl No. Heading and Specific points raised Question No/Date
1. NPS for all citizens- proposals for launching the NPS for all 957/10.07.2009
2. NPS- reasons for failure and steps taken therefrom 1942/17.07.2009
3. Discrepancy in NPS- steps taken 3874/31.07.2009
4. Management of Pension Funds- release of guidelines for management of the funds 336/20.11.2009
5. New National Pension Scheme- publicity measures, results, minimum returns 2617/12.03.2010
6. New Pension System- roping in PSUs 4616/23.04.2010
7. New Pension System- role of NDSL, details of amount collected, accounts active and not active, amount invested in market linked pension schemes, NAV, withdrawal, expansion of reach 5736/30.04.2010
8. Contributory Pension Scheme- conditions, number of accounts, amount accumulated, payments pending and settled 6816/07.05.2010
9. Proposals to Popularize NPS- steps to popularize, request of PFRDA to Govt 924/30.07.2010
10. New Pension Scheme- transparency relating to NAV and transactions 3346/13.08.2010
11. New Pension Scheme- review of pension in informal sector; corpus fund 4509/20.08.2010
12. Pension Scheme for the Poor- scope, time 5157/27.08.2010
13. National Pension Scheme for Poor Persons- steps to bring poor persons under NPS 1770/19.11.2010
14. New Pension Scheme- states’ response, guidelines for depositing contribution by states, appointment of managers 1752/19.11.2010
15. NPS-Lite- lauching 2896/26.11.2010
16. Pension to Plantation and NREGA Workers- schemes proposed to be incorporated to help the workers 3991/03.12.2010
17. New Pension Scheme- overhaul of the system 4070/03.12.2010
18. Unitization of NPS- possibility of scam due to pendency of unitization, reversion to old pension scheme, also about those who shifted employment 1584/04.03.2010
19. New Pension Scheme- reluctance of employees to join, steps 233/11.03.2011
20 Implementation of NPS-benefits accrued to each category of subscribers, recommendations of committee 2274/12.08.2011
21. Unitization of NPS-also withdrawal of those who shifted employment 268/18.08.2011
22. Exposure of NPS Fund- action taken to popularize in private sector, provision of higher return with moderate risk 3970/26.08.2011
23. DA Relief under the NPS- also safeguarding NPS from inflationary trends 4018/26.08.2011

Challenges and Outlook

Pension reforms in India have generated widespread interest internationally. Lower level of literacy among the workers in un-organized sectors, very low level of financial literacy among these target groups, non-availability of even moderate surplus of their income with the workers in un-organized sector to save for their retired life and, so far, lukewarm response from most of the State / UT Governments for a co-contributory scheme for Swavalamban are the major challenges in universal inclusion of poorer sections of Indian society and to address the public policy objective of addressing the longevity risks among the workers in un-organized sectors.

an old film

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