With Haryana set to go to the polls later this time, thousands of state government workers gathered in Panchkula on Sunday to press their demand for the restoration of the old pension scheme.
Thousands of Haryana government workers gathered on the Panchkula-Chandigarh border, tried to cross over into the Union Territory and march towards the Haryana chief minister’s hearthstone and ‘gherao’ it to press for their demand. Still, the protesters were stopped and Haryana Police used water cannons and tear gas shells to disperse them.
Indeed tear gas shells were fired at the inciters. Government workers in Haryana are demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme as the scheme has been introduced in the Congress-ruled countries of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.” Restoration of OPS is a licit demand. It has been restored by the governments of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. According to a spokesman of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) Restoration Struggle Committee, the Haryana government has provided an incorrect justification for its position, claiming that if OPS is restored, the government will be null and invalid.
The old pension scheme has also been introduced in Jharkhand, where the Congress is an inferior mate in the ruling coalition led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. It’s also in force in the AAP-ruled state of Punjab. Union leaders of government workers believe that statements made by the country’s economists and politicians regarding the old pension scheme aren’t logical because the MLAs and MPs of the state themselves are getting multiple pensions. Former deputy president of the planning commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has said the reintroduction of the old pension scheme (OPS) by some state governments is a form of fiscal ruin.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is of the view that moving from the new pension scheme to the old pension scheme may increase the fiscal burden of countries and the country. Leader of the workers union Vijender Dhariwal said the workers have been demanding restoration of the old pension scheme since 2018 and aren’t pressing their demand for the sake of choices. “The government didn’t take any action with regard to our demand and tried to suppress us,” he said.