Gujarat Elections: Congress, AAP cite restoration of Old Pension Scheme as major poll issue

Gujarat, November 13, 2022: The restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS) has become a major campaign issue in Gujarat, with both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party promising to implement the same if voted to power in the state’s Assembly elections slated to take place next month.

The 182-member Gujarat Assembly elections are set to be held in two stages on December 1 and 5. The opposition parties are hoping to gain the trust and support of lakhs of government employees who are angry about the new pension scheme established by the BJP.

The Gujarat government had unveiled the new contributory pension scheme for employees joining the service on or after April 1, 2005. As per the scheme, it will make a matching contribution of 10 per cent of the basic pay plus dearness allowance (DA) contributed by the employees in the NPS fund. The government will contribute 14 per cent against an employee’s contribution of 10 per cent of his/her salary and DA with effect from April 1, 2019.

Following protests by employees in Gujarat, the state government had stated that the new pension scheme will not be applicable to those employees who had joined duty before April 2005. It also assured to increase its contribution in the fund to 14 per cent from the 10 per cent earlier. The employees have staged massive protests against the government in Gujarat demanding the restoration of the OPS as they believe that the New Pension Scheme will not benefit the retiring employees.