Karnataka to implement old pension scheme for 13,000 govt employees who joined before April 2006
The Congress had promised to ‘sympathetically consider’ the demand to revert to the fixed-benefits pension scheme.
Bengaluru | January 25, 2024 20:41 IST
In its election manifesto, the Congress had assured implementation of OPS for more than 3.5 lakh government employees. (Photo/X/@siddaramaiah)
The Karnataka government has announced that around 13,000 government employees who got their jobs before April 1, 2006, when the new pension scheme came into force, will be eligible for the old pension scheme, which entails fixed benefits.
According to a government order issued on Wednesday, employees willing to opt for the new pension scheme will have to apply before June 30. And those who do not opt for the old pension scheme will continue under the new pension scheme.
Department heads will have to compile lists of employees opting for the old pension scheme and submit them for approval by the end of August 2024, the order read.
In its election manifesto, the Congress had promised to “sympathetically consider” the implementation of the old pension scheme for more than 3.5 lakh government employees.
P Guruswamy, president of the Secretariat Employees Association, told The Indian Express that the January 24 order followed a Supreme Court ruling that directed governments to implement the old pension scheme for such employees whose posts were notified before April 2006.
“Based on this order, the Centre had issued directions to all state governments,” he said, noting that the new order benefited only around 13,000 people, while the demand was to bring all government employees under the scheme.
Guruswamy said that out of the 3.5 lakh employees, around 2.5 lakh worked in state-run boards and corporations, adding that the cabinet had discussed the proposal for implementing the old pension scheme.
Government employees have staged several protests over the past few years demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme. Past state governments, however, dragged their heels owing to the financial burden the scheme would put on the exchequer.
The finance department has also flagged the significant outgo required for pension expenses over the past few years. In March last year, the BJP government formed a panel to study the implementation of the old pension scheme.
It may be recalled that Congress governments in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan had decided to revert to the old pension scheme.
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