Arunachal Pradesh: Restoration of Old Pension Scheme Demanded

A Correspondent

ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh unit of National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) has said that the entire government employees will soon start campaigning for ‘No Old Pension Scheme (OPS)- No Vote’ unless the state government scraps the New Pension Scheme (NPS) from the state.

The state unit NMOPS President, Dakme Abo, on Tuesday, told reporters that the campaign for ‘No OPS-No vote’ will include government employees from the state under group-A to group D. Failing to address the demand, he said that the NMOPS will join the nationwide protest in the state soon against the NPS.

He said that for the past 3 years, the organisation has been voicing for the restoration of OPS. Rather, discussing the matter with the members of the NMOPS, the state government is appreciating the NPS. The NPS is non beneficial for the government employees, both for the previous and new recruits in the long run.

“The interest of the government employees has been curtailed by the NPS by not granting any pension after their retirement, as the scheme has broken the social, moral and financial backbone of the retired employees who have provided more than 30 years of satisfactory services to the state and nation. Moreover, the NPS does not guarantee social and economic security to its employees during or after retirement,” he added.

He questioned why the MLA, ministers and MPs are still availing GPF under the OPS and is not under the domain of NPS. The rule should be equal for everyone, irrespective of position. Accordingly, the government of Arunachal Pradesh has implemented it with effect from January 2008. The state government employees appointed to various posts on or after January 1, 2008 are not eligible for the OPS and are forced to opt for the NPS.

“Many states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and West Bengal have banned the NPS and implemented the OPS. If other states can ban new NPS then why cannot our state government do the same for the welfare of its employees,” he further questioned.

Meanwhile, NMOPS, IPR Secretary, Chinmoy Bhowmik while highlighting the demerits of the NPS, said that there are around Twenty-Six thousand government employees in the state under NPS. Surprisingly none of the employees are benefiting from NPS even after retirement.

He said every year the state government deposits around Rs. 96 crores in National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), which is a huge loss for the state government. Whereas, in OPS, the money is kept in the state treasury, which can be used for the development of the state. 

“NPS is more like investing in a share market where there is no guarantee of social as well as economic stability of the government employees. Also, OPS guarantees benefits for the employee and the nominee but there are no criteria which can ease the claiming process as well as the amount of pension in NPS,” he said.

Also Read: Assam: Cease-work seeking restoration of Old Pension Scheme

Also Watch: