In a statement, AIPF said the by introducing UPS, the government was planning to “seize the entire amount contributed by employees.”

“The Unified Pension Scheme does not mention any provision for Dearness Allowance (DA) on the pension amount at the time of retirement. Inflation indexing or Dearness Relief will be provided after receiving the assured pension. The government has also stated that, in addition to gratuity, employees will receive a lump sum payment at the time of retirement. This lump sum will be calculated based on 10% of their final salary, including DA, multiplied by the number of half-year periods of their service. For example, if an employee’s service period is 25 years and their final salary is ₹1 lakh, they will receive a lump sum payment of ₹5 lakh (₹10,000 multiplied by 50 half-year periods). However, the scheme is silent on what will happen to the employees’ 10% contribution and the government’s 18.5% contribution made during their service. It is well known that there was no such contribution under the Old Pension Scheme. Even under the New Pension Scheme, 60% of the contribution was paid to employees at the time of retirement. But in this new scheme, there is no provision for receiving the contributed amount,” said the statement by Darapuri.

Read the full statement below:

At the time of India’s independence, the ruling class adopted the concept of a welfare state as a policy for governance. The government was responsible for various dimensions like education, health, employment, and social security. Under this, the government accepted a non-contributory pension scheme for employees to ensure a respectable life post-retirement. In this Old Pension Scheme, employees were not required to contribute any amount, and after completing 20 years of service, they were entitled to receive 50% of their last drawn salary as a pension. After the employee’s death, 60% of this pension would be provided to their family. Additionally, employees could contribute to the General Provident Fund (GPF) during their service period, which would be returned with interest upon retirement. They were also entitled to gratuity payments.

With the introduction of new economic and industrial policies in 1991, the government began to shirk its responsibilities as a welfare state. Gradually, the benefits available to workers and employees were systematically reduced. In 2004, the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee abolished the Old Pension Scheme and introduced the New Pension Scheme (NPS). In this scheme, the employees’ contribution was set at 10%, and initially, the government also contributed 10%, which was later increased to 14%. At retirement, employees received 60% of the total accumulated amount, and the remaining 40% was invested in the stock market, from which pension was drawn as dividends. This scheme led to many employees receiving a pension of less than ₹5,000. Naturally, this created significant dissatisfaction among employees, which became a major issue during the Lok Sabha and preceding Assembly elections. State governments in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh promised to restore the Old Pension Scheme, though the BJP government in Rajasthan later withdrew it after coming to power.

The BJP and RSS government understands that it cannot continue to rule the country for long by alienating the employees. Therefore, the Modi government formed a committee under Finance Secretary T. V. Somanathan to reform the New Pension Scheme. However, the committee chairperson outright rejected the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme, citing it as a significant financial burden on the government.

Nevertheless, the Modi government announced the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) on August 24, 2024. This scheme provides that retired employees will receive 50% of their basic pay from the last 12 months of service as a pension. However, this is only applicable if the employee completes 25 years of service. Families of employees who meet this service period and subsequently pass away will receive 60% of the pension as a family pension. In contrast, the Old Pension Scheme required only 20 years of service. This new provision is entirely against the interests of employees from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, as these groups generally enter service at the age of 40 due to age relaxations and can only complete 20 years of service by the retirement age of 60, thus not qualifying for the full benefits of this pension scheme. Additionally, the scheme sets a minimum pension of ₹10,000 for those who complete 10 years of service.

The Unified Pension Scheme does not mention any provision for Dearness Allowance (DA) on the pension amount at the time of retirement. Inflation indexing or Dearness Relief will be provided after receiving the assured pension. The government has also stated that, in addition to gratuity, employees will receive a lump sum payment at the time of retirement. This lump sum will be calculated based on 10% of their final salary, including DA, multiplied by the number of half-year periods of their service. For example, if an employee’s service period is 25 years and their final salary is ₹1 lakh, they will receive a lump sum payment of ₹5 lakh (₹10,000 multiplied by 50 half-year periods). However, the scheme is silent on what will happen to the employees’ 10% contribution and the government’s 18.5% contribution made during their service. It is well known that there was no such contribution under the Old Pension Scheme. Even under the New Pension Scheme, 60% of the contribution was paid to employees at the time of retirement. But in this new scheme, there is no provision for receiving the contributed amount. The government has used the Unified Pension Scheme to seize the entire amount contributed by employees.

The argument that the government lacks resources to restore the Old Pension Scheme is baseless. This country does not lack resources; if appropriate taxes are levied on corporate and super-rich individuals, sufficient resources can be generated to implement the Old Pension Scheme for employees. This would also ensure the right to education, health, and employment. AIPF has also demanded that the benefits of social security be extended to workers in the unorganized sector and has appealed to employee organizations to support this cause. The AIPF National Executive Committee has expressed solidarity with the employees and organizations fighting for the right to the Old Pension Scheme and has demanded that the government restore the Old Pension Scheme instead of introducing schemes like UPS.

On behalf of the AIPF National Executive Committee,

S. R. Darapuri, National President, All India Peoples Front

Courtesy: Newsclick

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The Old Pension Scheme was designed to guarantee lifelong support for government employees post-retirement. Employees did not contribute to the fund.  However in the new scheme, retirees get a pension based on a specific formula which is equal to 50% of their final salary before retirement. In December 2023, the Finance Minister had reportedly stated that there were no plans to revert to the OPS.  However, several state government have tried to accommodate employees under the OPS this year, including Karnataka, Sikkim. Kerala is slated to make a revised pension scheme for the OPS.

Similarly, youth in Lucknow and Prayagraj were seen protesting after an exam for recruitment of police constables in the state saw a paper leak. The examination board had at first rejected the claims of the paper leak, however, after the date of the slated exam, the Uttar Pradesh government announced that they were cancelling the examination and a new one would be taking place six months from the date of the last examination.

Similarly, in Bhopal the youth congress took to protest on February 14, 2024, against the Modi government for the lack of jobs and rising unemployment in the state. Addressing the same question of unemployment, Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke on the question of unemployment at a Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra rally in UP’s Aligarh, and stated, “BJP has been in power for 10 years. Many big events such as the G20 Summit took place, everyone said that the respect of the country is increasing due to such events, even we agree to it, but I want to ask, is the respect of the country not connected with the young, our policemen, and students? There are no jobs for the youth, farmers are still sitting on roads, inflation is a burden for the people of the country.”

Similarly, The Wire reported youth protests in Rajasthan after the termination of the Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Mitra Internship scheme by the Rajasthan government. The 4,000 people who were actively involved in the program protested as they had reportedly lost their monthly income after the scheme was reportedly terminated. They stated that the government can rebrand and rename the scheme but cannot stop it as it was resulting in the loss of their monthly income. The BJP has argued that the scheme was used by the Congress to promote its own ideology, according to The Wire.

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The post What they don’t want you to know: youth protests against Modi government appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Employee unions have also warned of an indefinite strike from December 14 to push the demand of OPS. “The meeting of the coordination committee of all government-semi government employees unions was held as the state government is ignoring the demand for OPS and it was decided to take out ‘Family March’ across the state in each district and tehsil on November 8 over the district collector office and tehsildar office with the slogan ‘My family, My Pension’. Later, we will go on indefinite strike from December 14 for the demand of OPS,” announced Vishwas Katkar, convenor of the coordination committee of the government employees union as reported by HT.

This demand of OPS for government employees, including teachers first surfaced on the political agenda during the campaign for legislative council elections in teachers and graduates’ constituencies held in January this year. At the time, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that the government would give the issue some consideration. However, the unresolved demand (the OPS issue) has already meant political damage to Shinde-Fadnavis as BJP lost Nagpur and Amravati to candidates of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Earlier this year, state government employees went on strike from March 14 during the budget session of the legislature. The strike ended on March 20 after the state government appointed the committee under the former IAS officer Subodh Kumar to look into the demand for OPS. Though close to seven months have elapsed since then, the state government has not come forward with any proposal regarding the pension issue.

“The Subodh Kumar committee on OPS was given three months’ time to submit the report. But now it’s over seven months and no development as far as the report and state governments response is concerned. Against this backdrop, the meeting of the coordination committee of various 219 employee unions of government-semi government employees, teachers and others was held. All representatives expressed displeasure about the state government’s approach and ignorance of the demand of OPS. So, we have decided on the family march on November 8 at the district collector’s office at the district headquarters and tehsildar office on tehsil level. and then indefinite strike from December.” said Katkar in a statement. Katkar also said that the co-ordination committee would like to share the side of employees on the report of the Subodh Kumar committee.

The other demands of employees include cancelling the indirect privatisation of the education sector, no recruitment on a contract basis and filling all the vacant posts immediately through the proper system.

What is the Old Pension Scheme

OPS was a pension scheme by the government through which a government employee gets 50% of its basic and dearness allowance after retirement as a pension. Government employees do not contribute to OPS. It gives a stable source of income post-retirement. This OPS was scrapped in Maharashtra under the central government policy in 2005 due to heavy debt (a chunk of government revenue was spent on the salary and pension of government employees) resulting in less amounts available for developmental work.

After the scrapping of OPS, a new scheme, contribution-based new pension scheme was introduced whereby government employees have to contribute 10% of their basic pay for the pension. The government then invests it in the pension funds selected by the Government of India and the returns are the capital market link. Government employees want OPS back as they are not required to contribute to it and also give an assured amount as a pension with the increase in dearness allowance automatically and OPS also continues to the spouse after the death of the employee.

Related:

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The post Maharashtra govt employees to revive agitation for Old Pension Scheme (OPS) on Nov 8 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Lucknow: Teachers of government and grant-in-aid schools and government employees in Uttar Pradesh (UP) are gearing up for a massive protest across all the 75 districts of the state on September 20 over their long-pending demands, including reinstatement of the old pension scheme (OPS). 

Sushil Kumar, president of the Primary Teachers Association, who will lead the protest, told Newsclick that the agitation was called after the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government failed to reinstate the OPS despite repeated requests.

Besides reinstatement of the OPS, the teachers want a continuous five-year job tenure for pay upgradation, implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission benefits and permanent status for Shiksha Mitras (contractual teachers) and Anudeshak (instructors).

The Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh governments, Kumar said, “have already announced the implementation of the OPS. The Uttar Pradesh government should also have no problem in implementing the OPS”.

Employees recruited after 2004 were not entitled to the OPS and are paid under the NPS, which is a form of contributory pension. 

“The new pension scheme (NPS) is the classic example of privatising everything. The government is not only privatising public sector units but also passing the buck of social security to the stock market-based system. This will gradually ruin everything and the entire country will be left in a mess,” Kumar alleged.

Last December, teachers and other government employees had staged a massive demonstration at Eco Garden, Lucknow, demanding fulfilment of their long-pending demands. Teachers were hoping for restoration of the OPS in the Budget bur were disappointed and galvanised to launch the protest. 

“On September 20, all teachers and government employees will gather at school or district headquarters to protest and hand over a memorandum to the prime minister, the president and the chief minister through their district administrations,” Kumar said adding that “teachers from across the state will also gather in Lucknow on November 15 for a massive protest”. 

Shiksha Mitras, under the banner of Uttar Pradesh Shikshamitra Sangh, will also join the protest pressing for better pay and appointment as assistant teachers. Their demands also include appointment as permanent teachers and jobs for candidates who have passed the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET).

UP has more than 1.73 lakh Shiksha Mitras employed with primary schools whose jobs were regularised by the state government in 2014. In 2017, the Supreme Court quashed their appointment and ordered that they won’t be regularised unless they clear the TET. Consequently, salary was reduced from Rs 38,000 to Rs 3,500. 

“Both the Centre and the state government have been ignoring our demand for regularisation. That’s why we decided to organise a massive protest in every district and later in Lucknow to make them listen,” Surbhi, a Shiksha Mitra, told Newsclick.

Arvind Singh, a retired government employee, alleged that despite being in service for more than three decades, retired employees are “entitled to a pension of just a few thousands rupees, which is not enough in old age. Many retired teachers getting pension under the NPS work as vegetable vendors to make their ends meet”.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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