Pension Tension for Ruling BJP in Poll-bound Himachal as Govt Employees Protest, CM Thakur Plays Modi Card
By: Swati Bhan
Edited By: Pathikrit Sen Gupta
Last Updated: September 30, 2022, 15:52 IST
Chandigarh, India
PM Modi with Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur. (File photo: Twitter/ @jairamthakurbjp)
Government employees seeking implementation of the Old Pension Scheme have hit the streets, providing ammunition to the opposition
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With barely a few months left for the Himachal assembly polls, the implementation of the old pension scheme (OPS) is turning out to be one of the major poll issues with employee protests providing ammunition to the opposition to put the Jai Ram Thakur government in a tight spot.
The government's worries have increased after employees seeking implementation of the OPS have hit the streets in protest. The agitating employees have started visiting rural areas in various constituencies to garner public support for their demand.
The employees are going to villages, pasting posters, and holding small meetings with people. Claiming the new OPS to be exploitative, they have sought that the old one be reinstated immediately. As per the new rule, the government employees retiring after 20 years of service are getting paltry pensions, ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500.
What has made matters worse for the government is that the protesting employees are targeting politicians in their respective constituencies over the issue. They are alleging that while the MLAs get a pension of about Rs 70,000 after their five-year stint in the assembly, employees are getting a pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 after putting in 20 years of service
Interestingly, the government, finding itself in a bind, has pulled out the Modi trump card even on this issue. In his interaction with the media, Thakur has said that the OPS can be implemented for government employees in Himachal Pradesh only with the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Congress leaders are trying to make the OPS a political issue against the state government before the assembly elections. They are trying to mislead government employees on the issue. The governments of Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have announced the implementation of the OPS but have not been able to provide it to their employees till now. The chief ministers of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have also requested the Prime Minister for financial assistance to implement the OPS. Without the Prime Minister's support, it is not easy to implement the OPS in Himachal,'' he said.
The opposition is using the issue to score political points. The Aam Aadmi Party is highlighting the fact that its government has implemented the scheme in Punjab while the Congress is showcasing its assurance in Chhattisgarh that it would implement the same.
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