17L employees in state threaten stir, chief secy to hold talks today

“We will be meeting the chief secretary but we are aware that he does not have the power to accept our demand on OPS. We will be meeting him to convey our stand. This is not a new demand from our side. We have been raising it for a years now. But recently, several states have gone back to the OPS. If those states with less resources can do it, why can’t Maharashtra do it,” said Vishwas Katkar, general secretary of the state government employees’ association and convener of the coordination committee formed to press the demand for OPS.
Sources in the state bureaucracy have been maintaining that it is not feasible for the state government to go back to OPS.

While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have recently made statements during the council poll campaign that the state government will think positively about the implementation of OPS, Fadnavis on Friday, while speaking in the state Legislative Council, asked employees to be practical and not become emotional on the issue. He even added that states who have now opted for it won’t be able to survive post 2030.
“This is an issue about social security. If new pension scheme is so good then why the armed forces, MPs, MLAs were omitted from it. We also do not agree with the reasoning of financial burden as there will be no immediate burden on the state if OPS is approved,” Katkar said, adding that the finance department can always do the calculation for the same.

He also countered the claim about not being able to survive financially post 2030. “By 2030, the revenue is also going to increase. We do not think that it is a correct argument to make,” he said.

The employees have also received support from the officers’ association. “We have already clarified that it is not possible for us to stay unaffected when over 17 lakh state government employees are demanding OPS in a unified voice. We have extended support and will join them if they decide to go forward with the strike call given on March 14,” said Vinod Desai, president, Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers’ Association.

Three Congress states Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh and AAP-ruled Punjab have already announced or reverted to OPS. OPS is a defined benefit scheme compared with the NPS or the new pension scheme, which is market-linked with both the government and the employee making monthly contributions, to be invested in pension funds.