Himachal employees forms federation to demand old pension scheme

Thousands of Himachal government employees have formed a front called the NPS employee's federation with the intention of demanding the reinstatement of an old pension scheme. The scheme was discontinued 18 years ago. The employees recruited after 2003 are demanding the old pension scheme, terming the new scheme as unfavourable. The new federation has nearly 2,000 employees and has decided to raise the issue with the state government during a rally scheduled for Tapovan (Dharamshala) later this month, where the state Vidhan Sabha will also be in session.

A notification regarding the scraping of the old pension scheme was issued only in 2005 and this is the main contention of the employees. They claimed that the new pension scheme is detrimental to their interests. A rally with 15,000 employees from lower Himachal districts such as Mandi, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Kangra, Chamba, and Kullu is planned by the federation. They will gather in Tapovan before the rally. The time and date of the proposed rally has not been decided yet

Employees who have recently retired are also a part of the movement. Employees of the NPS will no longer request a committee for their old pension. They will now make a direct demand for the restoration of the old pension scheme. According to Pradeep Thakur, president of the NPS Employees Federation, now is not the time to form a committee. The government has squandered that opportunity. "Why can't Himachal provide OPS if West Bengal can? The dual-engine government should have no trouble meeting this demand "Thakur stated.

When contacted, a state government spokesman told that it was up to the central government to make the final decision in this regard, as the decision to convert to the new Pension scheme was made at the central government's request. He stated that the state government was considering genuine employee demands and that the government would make a pro-employee decision.