Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot again on Sunday defended Congress’s plan to restore old pension scheme saying the nation was on the path of development for 60 years even when it was in effect. He said the intellectuals and economists “fielded” by the government might have an opinion but “what’s the reality?”
“Employees who served for 35 yrs believe they will get a pension after retirement…Nation developed for 60 years when OPS was in effect. What’s the problem now?” Gehlot told media persons in Jaipur.
The debate over the old pension scheme vs the new pension scheme intensified after former Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia recently termed the move by opposition-ruled state governments to bring back the OPS an “absurd idea” and a “recipe for financial bankruptcy”.
Rajasthan had returned to the OPS from March 2022, retrospectively for employees and Gehlot has proposed for reviving the old pension scheme in other states as well.
Under OPS, the pension of central and state government employees was fixed at 50 per cent of the last drawn basic pay, while under the new system of the New Pension Scheme, 10 per cent of the basic pay and dearness allowance will be contributed by the employee. The new regime has come into force for those employees who came into service in 2004.
Gehlot also talked about Congress’s ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ program in Rajasthan, an extension of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The Rajasthan CM said the state ministers will go to all districts January 19-20 to prepare for the ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ program scheduled for January 26.
“We have called a meeting on 16-17 January for Chintan Shivir. Ministers will brief the cabinet about the performance of their respective departments so that we can discuss among ourselves the impact of our announcements and policies,” he added.
(With ANI, PTI inputs)
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