PENSION SYSTEMS in South Asian countries, especially India, are perched on a precipice. Reforms, everyone agrees, are inevitable and urgent. But what are the ground realities?

The conference on reforming pension systems in South Asia, which was held in New Delhi from 23 November to 2 December 2000, attempted to examine the pension systems and emerging problems in India and other South Asian countries. The emphasis: to explore reform strategies that need to be initiated in the near future.

The high-level policy conference and training programme, organised by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Colombo Plan Secretariat, was also intended to equip policymakers to diagnose weaknesses in the existing systems and design transition mechanisms.

Long after the curtain came down on the conference, the debates and discussions will continue to rage. iinvestor.com brings you a package that offers insights into the issues that matter, with particular relevance to the Indian scenario.

This package brings you exclusive reports on the proceedings at the conference and a series of papers that were presented at the conference over the last few days. We'll be showcasing more reports and papers in the next few days.

Here, we present the first series of reports and papers.

Papers presented at the conference

Governance and regulatory issues in pension reforms in South Asia
by N. Rangachary, chairman, IRDA

Social security reform imperatives: the southeast Asian case
by Mukul G. Asher, Professor, public policy programme, National University of Singapore

Pension reforms and capital market development in India
by Jayanth R. Varma, Member,  SEBI

Turning crisis into opportunity
by Ramgopal Agarwala, chairman, International Development Policy Institute (P) Ltd

Pension reforms: the role of the private sector
by Baman Mehta, CEO, Darashaw & Company

Reports

Retire the EPF
by Sonal Sachdev
It's time the people who contribute most to the EPF had a say in where
the funds are invested. Given skilful fund managers and wider investment
avenues, pensioners could get far higher returns than the measly amounts
they now receive.

Rescue act
by Naren Karunakaran
The Indian government is in a predicament. How will it generate the revenue to meet an estimated outlay of Rs 22,620 crore towards central pensions for 2000-01? Well, there's a plan.

A multi-pronged approach
by Naren Karunakaran
The debate on keeping pension funds out of the equity market continues. According to Surendra Dave, chairman, CMIE, the presence of insurance companies and pension funds will broaden and strengthen the institutional investor base of the Indian capital market.

The pension regulation conundrum
by Naren Karunakaran
As the argument for the creation of an apex regulatory pension authority hots up, the IRDA chief and the RBI deputy governor present their opinions.

Other reports
iInvestor.com also offers here some articles relating to pension and retirement planning, from among the wealth of content on these subjects on the site.

A pension plan with an equity edge
by Sunil Dhawan
It’s another step forward in the movement for investor-liberation:
the Kothari Pioneer Pension Plan takes the 'radical' step of investing
a part of its funds in equities.

How to stretch your retirement fund
by Madhu T. and Udayan Ray
How to ensure that your funds give you regular income -- and a longer, happier retirement.

Just whose money is it?
by Ashu Dutt
The government is giving you a raw deal on your retirement money. And there's little you can do about it.