Old Pension Scheme rally: Congress, AAP extend support as sea of people throng Delhi’s Ramleela Maidan

पुरानी पेंशन कर्मचारियों का अधिकार है। कांग्रेस की राज्य सरकारों ने पुरानी पेंशन बहाल की है।

इसे लेकर हमारी नीति साफ है- कर्मचारियों को उनका हक मिलना ही चाहिए।

मोदी सरकार पुरानी पेंशन बहाल करे, देश की सेवा करने वाले कर्मवीरों का सम्मान करे। pic.twitter.com/wkcseIbKFq

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 1, 2023

“Modi government should restore the old pension, honour the workers who serve the country”, the post added.

A sea of protestors gathered for the ‘Pension Shankhanaad Rally’, which was organized by the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) on 1 October.

Speaking to PTI, NMOPS leader leader Vijay Kumar Bandhu said, “Our team believed that if the Central government ratifies this (OPS), then the onus won’t be on the state government. This is why we had come to Delhi’s Ramleela Maidan (to protest).”

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Visuals from the “Pension Shankhanaad Rally” held at Ramleela Maidan on 1st October 2023 in New Delhi.

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Visuals from the “Pension Shankhanaad Rally” held at Ramleela Maidan on 1st October 2023 in New Delhi.

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Visuals from the “Pension Shankhanaad Rally” held at Ramleela Maidan on 1st October 2023 in New Delhi.

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Visuals from the “Pension Shankhanaad Rally” held at Ramleela Maidan on 1st October 2023 in New Delhi.

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Visuals from the “Pension Shankhanaad Rally” held at Ramleela Maidan on 1st October 2023 in New Delhi.

Later in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also extended his support to movement, calling the New Pension Scheme (NPS) an “injustice”.

“We strongly support the demand of govt employees to bring back OPS. NPS is an injustice against employees. We have implemented OPS in Punjab and have written to Centre for implementing it for Delhi government employees,” the CM wrote in a post on X.

We strongly support the demand of govt employees to bring back OPS. NPS is an injustice against employees. We have implemented OPS in Punjab and have written to Centre for implementing it for Del govt employees. Some other non-BJP govts have also implemented OPS. https://t.co/L5MTzPlZ83

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 1, 2023

Pension to government employees at the Centre as well as states was fixed at 50 per cent of the last drawn basic pay. The attraction of the Old Pension Scheme or ‘OPS’ — called so since it existed before a new pension system came into effect for those joining government service from January 1, 2004 — lay in its promise of an assured or ‘defined’ benefit to the retiree. It was hence described as a ‘Defined Benefit Scheme’.

States like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have already announced the reversal to OPS from NPS.

Last month, Samajwadi Party members walked out of the Assembly after the government refused to accept their demand to restore OPS for the state government employees.

“Has the state government made any calculation about the difference between the old pension and the new one, and how much one would get? Even the Government of India has decided to give the old pension to its employees whose posts were advertised before 2003. Will Uttar Pradesh at least consider the same,” SP MLA Lalji Verma had sought to know.