As several government employees are continuously demanding to bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), now Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh has now taken a dig at the system, urging to raise the issue of the OPS in Parliament when his membership in the Rajya Sabha (RS) is revoked.AAP leader Sanjay Singh to raise issue in RS on bringing back OPSHe also stressed the concerns regarding the employees of the nation who have been advocating for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme and questioned the system where the MLAs and MPs receive pensions for their lives while others who have worked for over 40 years are denied for these benefits.While addressing a rally in Delhis Ramlila Maidan the AAP leader said, “The employees of the country opened a front against the Modi government regarding the restoration of old pension. MLAs and MPs get pensions for their whole life even if they work for 40 days. Why no pension for an employee who has worked for 40 years I will raise this issue before Parliament after my membership gets revoked. Arvind Kejriwals slogan is Where AAP rules there is an old pension.”Government workers stage protest at Delhis Ramlila MaidanBefore his address on Sunday, several workers of central and state government and public sector undertakings (PSUs) staged a protest at Ramlila Maidan, demanding the reinstatement of this scheme by the Centre. They also have expressed their dissatisfaction with the current National Pension Scheme (NPS).The protest named Pension Shankhnaad Maharally was organised under the aegis of the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) in order to pressurise the central government to nix the existing NPS and bring back the old regime.Opposition supports protesters move, demands to bring back OPSMeanwhile, the opposition parties have also shown full support to the demands of the protesters, asking the BJP-led government at the Centre to bring back the OPS as soon as possible.Demanding to restore the older scheme, Congress said, “Old pension is the right of the employees. State governments led by Congress have restored the old pension scheme. Our policy regarding this is clear – employees must get their rights. Modi government should restore the old pension, and honour the workers who serve the country.”Several states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have announced the bringing back of OPS.On Sunday, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said that his party strongly supports bringing back OPS, adding that NPS (New Pension Scheme) is an injustice against employees.We strongly support the demand of govt employees to bring back OPS. NPS is an injustice against employees. We have implemented OPS in Punjab and have written to Centre for implementing it for Del govt employees. Some other non-BJP govts have also implemented OPS. https://t.co/L5MTzPlZ83— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 1, 2023 Whats the difference between Old Pension Scheme and New Pension SchemeNotably, under the old pension scheme, a government employee is entitled to a monthly pension after retirement. The monthly pension is typically half of the last drawn salary of the person.However, now the employees contribute a portion of their salaries to the pension fund under the NPS. Based on that, they are entitled to a one-time lump sum amount on superannuation.The old pension scheme was discontinued in December 2003, and the new pension scheme came into effect on April 1, 2004.
