Protest Erupts as Haryana Govt Employees Demand Restoration of Old Pension Scheme

The National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) is an umbrella body of more than 14 lakh central and state government employees who have welcomed the government’s decision. On March 03, 2023, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet nod to the enactment of the Old Pension Scheme from April 1.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Leader of the Opposition and former chief minister of Haryana said that the employees are not happy with the new pension scheme and that the government should restore the Old Pension Scheme.

On Sunday, the government employees held protests in Sirsa, Hisar, and other districts of the state demanding the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme.

The protesters also raised slogans against the Union and state governments. Dinesh Sharma, who was leading the employees’ protest in Hisar, said, “We will continue to protest against the government till our demands are not met. The government should restore the Old Pension Scheme. If the governments of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan can restore this scheme for the sake of employees, why is the Haryana government silent over this issue.”

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Leader of the Opposition and the former chief minister said the employees are not happy with the new pension scheme and the government should restore the Old Pension Scheme. He also claimed that if the BJP-JJP government failed to restore the Old Pension Scheme, Congress will execute this scheme if it comes to power.

A new National Pension Scheme (NPS) was introduced for government officials in 2004. The scheme was designed to both reduce the amount of money the government spent on pensions and to give employees higher incomes when they retire because their pension assets could be invested in the stock market.

Government workers discovered that NPS had abandoned them without any suitable retirement benefits 19 years later. They are requesting that governments bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for this reason. Five opposition states have gone back to it, but the centre didn’t help.