In Punjab, AAP on the back foot as posters on Old Pension Scheme spring up

“Employees will ask candidates what their stand on the implementation of OPS is. We will ask AAP candidates why OPS has not been implemented in Punjab two years after the government was formed and it was notified,” Jasvir Singh Talwara, convenor of the Purani Pension Bahali Sangharsh Committee, an employees’ union, told The Indian Express.

“Our votes will go to the candidate whose party can implement OPS in true letter and spirit,” Jarnail Singh Patti, general secretary of the committee, said.

The posters that have sprung up across districts in Punjab read: “I am a government employee recruited after 2004 who is affected by the new pension scheme. My OPS has been snatched away. Only those candidates should come to seek votes from us who can help in implementation of OPS.”

Parminder Pal Singh, a government teacher and his wife have pasted a poster outside their house in Phagwara. (Express Photo)

“As most employees will be busy with poll duties, we have not planned any protests or public demonstrations. But we will be placing our questions before the candidates in a peaceful manner,” Talwara said. “AAP has kept the issue in cold storage and the BJP will also be questioned,” he added.

“We will lodge our protest in a silent manner. Voters also have the right to question their candidates…not only employees, but their families will also decide to vote based on the response from the candidates,” union leader Karamjit Singh Tamkot said.

Sukhjit Singh, convenor of the Punjab unit of the Contributory Pension Federation Employees Union (CPFEU) said they were planning a hunger strike on May 1, from 10 am to 4 pm at Khatkar Kalan – the native place of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. “As AAP leaders claim to be his followers, we are going to remind them of their unfulfilled promise of OPS implementation,” he said.

The OPS protest: A background

From October 10 to October 22, 2022, 37 employees’ unions in Punjab had gone on strike demanding OPS. They had even announced a ‘pol khol’ rally against AAP under the banner of

CPFEU, Punjab for not keeping its poll promise in Shimla on October 26 as Himachal Pradesh was going for polls in November.

However, on October 22, 2022, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that OPS would be implemented and declared a 6 per cent hike in dearness allowance. Both these announcements that came two days before Diwali were termed “Diwali gifts”. Subsequently, the central CPFEU withdrew its decision to protest.

Later, employees announced a “pol khol” rally in Gujarat in November 2022 as the OPS announcement was not notified. Subsequently, the OPS was notified on November 18, 2022, and the rally was cancelled.

The Punjab government then formed a committee to study the implementation of OPS in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan (it reverted to NPS after a change in government last year).

On October 2, 2023, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP national convenor, said in a post on X that the party strongly supported the demand to bring OPS, which is why it was implemented in AAP-ruled Punjab.

“NPS is an injustice against employees. We have implemented OPS in Punjab and have written to the Centre for implementing it for Delhi govt employees. Some other non-BJP govts have also implemented OPS,” the post read.

Since then, government employees have been protesting the government’s ‘betrayal’.

What is the OPS advantage?

The NPS was made mandatory for all new government recruits from January 1, 2004. Under the NPS, 10 per cent of a government employee’s basic salary is deducted as the employee’s Provident Fund while 14 per cent is added by the government. The money remains with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Developmental Authority (PFRDA), which is a central government organisation. Under it, money is invested in stocks as per the guidelines of the Centre.

Under OPS, pension to government employees was fixed at 50 per cent of the last drawn basic pay. The main attraction lay in the OPS’s promise of an assured benefit to the retiree. “Under OPS, an employee can get up to Rs 5 lakh per annum deposited in GPF [General Provident Fund] and the money remains with the state government till the retirement of the employee,” an employee recruited after 2004 under the NPS said.

The Punjab government in the past had also mentioned that it was mulling its own pension policy rather than depending upon the Centre for the implementation of OPS.