Old Pension Scheme: The demand to implement the old pension scheme (OPS) once again in the country is rising. There is continuous pressure on the central government. Meanwhile, the state governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have reinstated the old scheme. Four of these are states ruled by the Congress or a Congress coalition, while Punjab is ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party.
After the re-implementation of the old system in these five states, the pressure has increased on other states to implement the old scheme again instead of the new one. In the states where assembly elections are to be held before the Lok Sabha elections, many parties have made it an election issue. Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are BJP ruled states. Here too, people have increased the pressure on the state government, demanding the implementation of the old scheme.
Assembly elections may be held in Karnataka in May-June, while assembly elections are to be held in Madhya Pradesh later this year. Congress has already said in Madhya Pradesh that if their government is formed in the state, it will implement OPS. While the Shivraj government has made it clear in the budget session of the assembly that at present they have no idea of implementing OPS.
In such a situation, the governments of these states are considering re-implementing the old pension scheme to please employees. However, this is not possible until they get the green signal from the Modi government.
In fact, on April 1, 2004, the government of the then Alt Bihari Vajpayee had decided to discontinue the Old Pension Scheme. After this, the National Pension System was started in 2004 in place of the old pension scheme.
Under the old system, the government used to give a fixed pension to the employees after retirement. It was based on the pay scale of the said employee at the time of his retirement. In this, after the death of the retired employee, his family members were also given the benefit of pension. But under the new pension scheme, 10 per cent is deducted from the salary of the employees.
Along with this, under the old pension scheme, the employees also got the facility of General Provident Fund (GPF). At the same time, this arrangement is not there in the new pension scheme. There is no guarantee of the amount that will be received as pension. The new pension scheme is based on the stock market, whereas there was nothing like this in the old scheme.
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