New Delhi: Thousands of employees of the Central government, state and PSUs gathered at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday to protest against the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and demand the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
The protest, organized by the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS), was attended by government and PSU employees from more than 20 states.
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Videos of the protest show a sea of employees raising slogans against the Centre to demand the implementation of the OPS.
The Congress party extended support to the protests, saying the Congress-ruled states have restored the old pension.
“Old pension is the right of the employees. Congress state governments have restored the old pension. Our policy regarding this is clear – employees must get their rights. Modi government should restore the old pension, honor the workers who serve the country,” the Congress said in a tweet.
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also voiced support for the old pension scheme and said he has requested the Centre to implement it for Delhi government employees.
“We strongly support the demand of government employees to bring back OPS. NPS is an injustice against employees. We have implemented OPS in Punjab and have written to the Centre for implementing it for Del govt employees. Some other non-BJP govts have also implemented OPS,” Kejriwal said in a Facebook post.
However, an article by RBI staffers mentioned that states reverting to the old pension scheme is a “major step backwards” and may take the fiscal stress of states to “unsustainable levels” in the medium to long term. It said the cumulative fiscal burden in the case of the OPS could be as high as 4.5 times that of the NPS.
The NPS is a defined contribution pension scheme, where the government and employee contribute a certain percentage of the employee’s salary to the pension fund.
The OPS is a defined benefit scheme, where the government guarantees a certain percentage of the employee’s last salary as pension.
Government employees have been demanding the restoration of the OPS for many years, arguing that the NPS is less secure and provides lower returns.