| The Employees’ Pension Benefit Fund Bill will be taken up for debate in June, according to government sources said.
The Supreme Court has determined that the Bill is constitutional, but many trade unions oppose the Bill and want it withdrawn.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had a meeting with media editors on Tuesday, said those who opposed the Pension Benefit Fund Bill were persons with vested interests; those who cared about the welfare of the workers supported the Bill, the President said.
The Government has agreed to introduce several amendments to the Bill to address concerns raised by trade unions that have challenged the Bill’s constitutionality.
One of the amendments is a new provision that names the surviving spouse of a fund member as a beneficiary of a lump sum payment, in case the fund member dies before he reaches 60 years, the age at which the pension becomes payable.
Previously, the Bill named only a child below the age of 18 or a mentality or physically handicapped child as beneficiaries for such a payment. |
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