Old Pension Scheme: The Shiden government of Maharashtra has given a big gift to the government employees of the state. Such government employees of the state who have joined the service after November 2005 can choose the option of Old Pension Scheme. Maharashtra Cabinet has approved this proposal on Thursday.
State government employees were continuously protesting demanding restoration of the Old Pension Scheme. They also went on strike in support of their demand for the old pension scheme. After which the Maharashtra Government has decided that any government employee who has joined the services after November 2005 will have the option to choose the Old Pension Scheme.
Vishwas Katkar, general secretary of Maharashtra State Employees Federation, said, this decision of the cabinet will benefit 26,000 employees of the state government, who were selected before November 2005 but these people got the joining letters later. 9.5 lakh government employees who had joined the services before November 2005 are still getting the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme. The Old Pension Scheme was discontinued in the state in 2005.
Central government employees are also demanding reinstatement of the old pension scheme. Recently, government employees from all over the country have staged a protest at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi to increase pressure on the government. However, the government has said that there is no proposal before the government to reinstate the old pension scheme for central employees appointed on or after January 1, 2004.
However, the government has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the Finance Secretary which is studying the issue of pension of central employees under the National Pension System. This committee is looking into the existing framework and structure of NPS. Also, it is seeing whether any changes need to be made in it. After Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand, Maharashtra has also restored the Old Pension Scheme in its states.
