Government promises to send pension records to all holders: measure JCP has demanded

   Welfare Minister Yanagisawa Hakuo at the June 28 House of Councilors Welfare Committee meeting stated that in order to deal with the pension mismanagement, the government will send to all pension account holders their premium payment records so that they can check their own records.

   Yanagisawa made this announcement for the first time in response to Japanese Communist Party representative Koike Akira’s question.

   JCP Chair Shii Kazuo at a press conference held later in the day in the Diet building stated, “The ruling parties and the government have come to acknowledge that the JCP proposal is the most reasonable and constructive in dealing with the problem. This is a very significant move. We urge them to carry this out immediately.”

   The JCP has called for premium payment records to be sent to all pension account holders as the first step of its five-point urgent measures proposal to solve the pension issue. On June 19, Shii requested Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to put into practice this proposal. In the Diet discussion, Koike and other JCP Dietmembers have repeatedly urged the government to carry this out.

                           - Akahata, June 29, 2007