Govt. employees in Punjab edgy over Old Pension Scheme

Experts say recovering accumulated share from Central pension authority is a challenge

With the Punjab government yet to notify the detailed scheme and the Standard Operating Procedures surrounding the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), the anxiousness among the State employees is only growing even as experts feel that going back to the OPS will have financial implications in the long run.

Punjab government employees are up in arms against the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and have threatened to resort to an agitation if a ‘proper’ notification was not issued right away. The employees are demanding an immediate amendment to the Civil Service Rules and written details surrounding the pension policy, which has not been done in the notification.

On November 18, the Punjab government issued a notification regarding the restoration of the OPS, in which it was stated that all the government employees who were presently being covered under the Defined Contributory Pension Scheme also referred to as the National Pension System (NPS) would be given the benefits of the OPS. However, as the notification pointed out that the detailed scheme and the Standard Operating Procedures would be informed by the State government in due course of time, it raised anxiety among the employees.

Several employees under the banner of ‘Sanjha Mulazam Manch’, a joint platform of employees, which includes the employees related to various directorate unions, teacher unions, the Punjab State ministerial service union, the Punjab civil secretariat staff association had earlier this week staged their protest in Chandigarh, and now plan to stage another protest on November 30.

“We will stage protest demonstration against the State government on November 30, and if the notification in accordance with the rules is not issued, we will intensify our agitation. The government should have clearly mentioned the detailed scheme and the Standard Operating Procedures in the notification itself. The notification has been issued without amending the Civil Service Rules (CSR) rules and without mentioning the detailed pension policy,” Sukhchain Singh Khaira, convener of the Joint Front told The Hindu.

The OPS was abolished by the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre in December 2003 and the NPS came into force on April 1, 2004. Under the OPS, the entire pension amount was given by the government whereas the NPS is a participatory scheme where employees contribute to the pension corpus from their salaries, with matching contributions from the government, and is market-linked.

As the concern surrounding the OPS among employees continues, Ranjit Singh Ghuman, professor of eminence (economics) at the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar has pointed out that while resorting to the OPS was a right and appreciative decision as it was a formidable social and financial security to the retired persons in their old age, the State government would have to face the challenge of getting back the accumulated government’s share of around ₹17,000 crore from the Central Pension Authority.