CM Gehlot urges PM Modi to implement OPS

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the recent budget announced to implement the benefit of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to the employees of boards/corporations/autonomous bodies. This will benefit more than 1 lakh personnel in ‘Vidyut Udpadan Nigam’, ‘Vidyut Prasaran Nigam’, ‘Vidyut Vitran Nigam’, RIICO, RTDC, RSMML, universities and academies etc. The government has always been responsive towards social security and welfare to strengthen the role of government personnel in good governance.

Citing the statement of former President of America Barack Obama, Gehlot said, “Seventy-five years ago today, amid the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt signed social security into law, laying a cornerstone in the foundation of America’s middle class, and assuring generations of America’s senior that after a lifetime of hard work, they would have a chance to retire with dignity. We must keep that promise; to safeguard Social Security for our seniors, people with disabilities, and all Americans – today, tomorrow, and forever. One thing we cannot afford to do though is privatising Social Security–an ill-conceived idea that would add trillions of dollars to our budget deficit while tying your benefits to the whims of Wall Street traders and the ups and downs of the stock market. I will fight with everything I have got to stop those who would gamble your Social Security on Wall Street.” Obama said on August 14, 2010.

Gehlot said as per the statement of the American President, the social security of personnel that is a contribution for the pension is invested in the share market under the National Pension Scheme (NPS). Looking at this risk, the Rajasthan government during the last budget decided to implement the OPS. Recently, the share price of LIC registered an unprecedented fall which proved that the decision of implementing the OPS was right.

The Chief Minister once again requested the Prime Minister to implement the OPS for all the government personnel in the country.

Rajasthan was the first state to restore the OPS for the employees of the state government who were appointed on or after January 1, 2004. Gehlot believes that employees in the government service should feel secure about their future then only they will give their 100% and keep them motivated to work with dedication. . In the last 10 months, 621 employees who retired from the state government service after joining it on or after April 1, 2004, have been given the benefit of the Old Pension Scheme.