The Congress-led government has decided against bringing in the pension regulatory bill before Parliament till it has managed to get the Left on board. Senior finance ministry officials said the amendments suggested to the pension bill by the standing committee of Parliament would be incorporated to the extent necessary. 

However, the government feels it would be politically "unwise" to bring in the bill till the Left agrees to the provisions. Members of these parties on the standing committee filed four dissenting notes on the bill. "We are ready to bring in the amendments suggested by committee but the government is unlikely to make changes till the Left agrees," U. K. Sinha, joint secretary in charge of capital markets and pensions, said. 

The Left had attacked the bill on a number of grounds. The dissent notes, from CPM and CPI members, express the fear that collective savings could be frittered away if pension contributions are invested in stocks. 

The Left leaders also point out that the new Indian pension model is derived from an earlier experience in Chile, where pension fund managers were finding it difficult to pay employees even the principal stashed away. But the main bone of contention is FDI. The Left fears permitting MNC pension funds could siphon away savings from local arms to offshore funds. 

The two Communist parties have also opposed the way in which the government wants to transfer powers on policy issues from Parliament to a proposed pension regulator. The Congress-controlled standing committee, trying to address some of these apprehensions in its report, has capped foreign investment at 26 per cent and preferred fund managers guaranteeing fixed returns. It has also inserted clauses that will force private pension funds to give subscribers the option of parking savings in government securities and in the stock or debt markets. But so far, the Left has shown no signs of budging from its stand. 

Sources say they would let the pension bill sail through only if their objections are taken care of.