Restore old pension scheme in MP too, say state employees; protest on April 14

BHOPAL: After Rajasthan chief miner Ashok Gehlot announced the revival of the old pension scheme in his state, the opposition parties and government employees in the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh are gearing up to stage a protest, raising demand for the implementation of the same, in Bhopal on April 14 on the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar. On February 23, Ashok Gehlot, in his budget speech in the Rajasthan assembly, announced restoration of the old pension scheme, renewing demands from government employees in other states to follow Rajasthan. On Monday, Jharkhand chief miner Hemant Soren told the state assembly that there was no current proposal under consideration before his government to revive the old pension scheme. Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is in power in Jharkhand in alliance with the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal, promised to scrap the new pension scheme ahead of the 2019 state elections. Around 3.35 lakh employees in Madhya Pradesh, who are covered under the new pension scheme, are planning to join the protest on April 14 in Bhopal while the opposition leaders are planning to raise the issue in the state assembly’s upcoming budget session, which is starting from March 7. Former miner and Congress MLA Govind Singh said, “We will bring this issue for the discussion in the assembly so that a resolution could be passed for the revival of the old pension scheme. This is a matter concerning the future of more than 3 lakh employees and their families.” “Realising the sufferings of lakhs of families of government employees, Rajasthan chief miner Ashok Gehlot made the announcement of the revival of pension scheme. But in MP, the chief miner is curtailing government jobs. So how can we expect such an initiative from them? We will stage protests with employees to ensure the revival of the old pension scheme,” said PC Sharma, another Congress MLA. Azad Adhyapak Sangh state president Bharat Patel said, “Out of the total eligible employees under the new pension scheme, most of them are teachers. We welcome the effort of the Rajasthan government and we want the same here in MP.” “The scheme will reduce the monthly financial burden of the state government. According to our estimate, the state government is spending over ₹340 crore on National Pension Scheme contributing 14% every month but if they impose old pension scheme, they won’t need to spend anything for 12 years,” he said. We don’t want to put any extra burden on the state government but want to secure our future, said Sudhir Nayak, leader of the employees union of the secretariat. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has not given any reaction on this but BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “The state government always works in favour of employees and common people. They will take decision accordingly so that the employees need not face any problem.”