On Wednesday, thousands of government employees from various state and union governments, as well as public sector units, affiliated with the Government Employees National Confederation (GENC), held a rally in New Delhi to demand the reinstatement of the old pension scheme (OPS). A delegation of the workers met with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and submitted a memorandum expressing their dissatisfaction, resentment, and grief over the National Pension Scheme (NPS). The GNEC is the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh’s (BMS) industrial unit, a trade union affiliated with the Sangh Parivar.
The leaders emphasized that the OPS provided a guaranteed pension of at least 50% of the last basic pay, along with dearness relief for price neutralization and a mandatory revision in accordance with Central Pay Commission recommendations. The protesting workers were primarily from the Defense, Railways, Postal, and Central government organizations, such as the Archaeological Survey of India and EPFO.
BMS General Secretary Ravindra Himte and GNEC General Secretary Sadhu Singh were among the delegation that met with Ms. Sitharaman. Mr. Singh stated in a release that the BMS had opposed the decision to discontinue the Old Pension Scheme (CCS Pension Rules, 1972) from January 1, 2004, and the implementation of the NPS through an Ordinance on December 22, 2003, from the very beginning. He explained that the NPS is a non-guaranteed, market-based contributory pension scheme. “Prior to January 1, 2004, the old pension scheme offered a non-contributory guarantee, ensuring that 50% of the last salary became the pension upon retirement. Additionally, the scheme was directly linked to the price index, resulting in the receipt of dearness allowance twice a year, in January and July. Government employees, who feel deprived of their rightful pension under the guise of social security, are now urgently appealing to the government of India to abolish NPS and reinstate the OPS,” the BMS stated in the memorandum to the Minister.
They informed her that several state governments have eliminated NPS and restored the OPS in the past few years. “This raised hope among employees in the remaining states and the Central government that the government would consider our concerns, but the lack of an announcement to date has resulted in disappointment and dissatisfaction among the employees,” they stated in the memorandum.
