As Tarn Taran bypoll nears, OPS demand resurfaces with employee unions’ flag march

Employees from over 50 government departments—those recruited on or after January 1, 2004, when the New Pension Scheme (NPS) was implemented—are expected to take part. “There are over 2 lakh such employees working across Punjab,” Sukhjit Singh, convenor of the CPF Employees’ Union, said.

The Punjab government had attempted to pacify the employees by calling a meeting with the cabinet sub-committee on Friday, but the discussions remained inconclusive, Jasvir Singh Talwara, convenor of PPBSC, revealed while speaking to The Indian Express.

“The flag march will start from the parking area of Gurdwara Baba Budha Sahib Ji in Jhabal Kalan and proceed to gherao the residence of Aam Aadmi Party candidate Harmeet Sandhu in Tarn Taran city. We will cover nearly 15 villages on the way. It will be a vehicle march, and no less than 500 vehicles will be on the roads,” Sukhjit Singh, convenor of the CPF Employees’ Union, said.

“As politicians conduct roadshows to showcase their strength during elections, we too will hold this roadshow to highlight the non-fulfilment of promises made by the ruling party, which had announced the implementation of OPS in its poll manifesto and even issued a notification in November 2022,” he added. Singh said the employees were committed to holding the march but feared police action.

Saying that the government had completely backed out from implementing the notification for restoring the OPS, Talwara said, “Therefore, all NPS-affected employees are requested to actively participate in the flag march on November 2 to make it a success. Our meeting with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema remained inconclusive on Friday.”

Even the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) has sought time from the cabinet sub-committee to discuss its pending demands on November 7 in Chandigarh, ahead of the bypoll, though a few of their members will be part of this flag march as well.

A forgotten poll promise

Employees have long been protesting for the implementation of OPS. “We protested in 2022, and the government made the first announcement on October 22, 2022, that OPS would be implemented soon—just ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls. On November 18, 2022, they issued a notification before the Gujarat elections. Afterwards, they slept over it,” Talwara said. “We have organised several protests since then, as this was their poll promise. Our only demand now is the implementation of OPS.”

Although the Centre recently introduced the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for its employees, Talwara said state employees were not keen to study it. “Our demand is only OPS. Since November 2022, the AAP government has been delaying its implementation. If they didn’t intend to restore it, why issue the notification in the first place?” he asked.

Bikramjit Singh Kaddon, Varinder Vicky, Gurdeep Singh Cheema, and Sangat Ram were among the other union leaders who attended Friday’s meeting with Cheema.

OPS advantage

The NPS was made mandatory for all new government recruits from January 1, 2004. Under NPS, 10 per cent of an employee’s basic salary is deducted as contribution, while the government adds 14 per cent. The funds are managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), a central government body, and are invested in stock markets as per central guidelines.

Under OPS, however, the pension is fixed at 50 per cent of the last drawn basic pay, ensuring an assured benefit to the retiree. “Under OPS, an employee can get up to ₹5 lakh per annum deposited in the General Provident Fund (GPF), and the money remains with the state government until the employee’s retirement,” said an employee recruited after 2004 under NPS.

The Punjab government had earlier indicated that it was considering formulating its own pension policy instead of relying on the Centre for OPS implementation, but no progress has been made on that front so far.