Haryana govt forms panel to discuss OPS demand with employees

Chandigarh: The Haryana government on Monday formed a committee to hold discussions with representatives of employees demanding the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme.

The move comes a day after Haryana Police used water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse a large group of state government employees holding a demonstration for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme in Panchkula.

According to an order, the state government has decided to set up the committee for discussion on the demand for the Old Pension Scheme in place of the New Pension Scheme in respect of government employees recruited on or after January 1, 2006.

The committee will be chaired by the chief secretary. The additional chief secretary (Finance department) and the principal secretary to the chief minister will be the other members.

The demand by Haryana government employees for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme is a long-standing one.

An employees' organisation on Monday held talks with the government on the issue. The body was led by Vijender Dhariwal, the state president of the Pension Bahali Sangharsh Samiti. The government has asked the Samiti to depute five members to discuss the issue with the committee.

The committee's first meeting will be held on March 3, Dhariwal told reporters here.

He said the first round of meeting was held here on Monday evening with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. It was followed by talks with government representatives.

The government decided to set up the committee after long deliberations, he added.

"A three-member committee has been formed that will hold a meeting on March 3 with our body. We have clearly said that our demand is only one -- restoring the Old Pension Scheme. In five states, it has been restored. Why can't it be restored in Haryana?" Dhariwal asked.

"We pointed out the flaws in the New Pension Scheme. We also brought to the government's notice that to say restoring the Old Pension Scheme would cause a big financial burden is not correct," he said.

Speaking on the police action on Sunday, Dhariwal said, "Yesterday, we had announced to gherao the chief minister's residence here. We raised during our meeting today whether such action is justified in a democratic set up.

"We brought to the notice of the chief minister that 20-25 employees suffered injuries, including head injuries. What was their fault?" The action came after the demonstrators, who had gathered on the Panchkula-Chandigarh border, tried to cross over into the Union Territory and march towards the Haryana chief minister's residence.

The opposition Congress attacked the Haryana government for the use of force to disperse the employees and said the BJP-JJP coalition government wanted to run the state with "sticks and bullets".

The Congress also assured that it would restore the Old Pension Scheme if voted to power. Assmelby polls in Haryana are due in 2024.

Restoration of the Old Pension Scheme emerged as a key election issue in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, where the Congress ousted the BJP in last year's assembly polls.

No BJP-governed state has so far restored the Old Pension Scheme.

The Old Pension Scheme, under which the entire pension amount was given by the government, was discontinued in the country from April 1, 2004. However, the pension amount is contributory under the National Pension System, which is in effect from that year.