Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot
Former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia cautioned state governments that bringing back the Old Pension Scheme could be a regressive step and lead to financial insolvency
Shimla:
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said that he believes in his department’s financial management as he dismissed economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s remark that going back to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) is a recipe to financial bankruptcy.
”We believe that the management we have, the financial management that our department has done… We have sat and discussed. We believe that there is no work which cannot be done,” Gehlot told reporters after launching 5G internet service here on Saturday.
He said that all economists use their intellect but his government has belief in financial management done by its department.
Gehlot said that if the country can progress for 60 years after implementing OPS and giving pension to employees then it can continue with it now as well, and added that employees have a right to social security after retirement.
The Chief minister said that the state government decided to implement OPS from the point of view of ”humanity.”
He said that government employees work under pressure and are forced to indulge in corrupt practices to secure their and their families’ future.
He also accused the central government of exercising ”discrimination” in providing OPS benefits to the Army and not the BSF, ITBP, and paramilitary forces, and asked why it was so.
Former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday cautioned state governments that bringing back the Old Pension Scheme could be a regressive step and lead to financial insolvency.
Ahluwalia said the move to bring back the old pension scheme may be an ‘absurd idea’ considering the economic challenges the country and the world are facing today. His remarks came at a book release in the national capital.
This is not the first time Montek Ahluwalia has spoken against OPS. Sometime back, he had said that OPS is one of the biggest cess given by the state governments.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often spoken out against political parties developing and promoting a culture of free rein.
Under OPS, the pension of central and state government employees was fixed at 50 per cent of the last drawn basic pay, while under the new system of the New Pension Scheme, 10 per cent of the basic pay and dearness allowance will be contributed by the employee.
The new regime has come into force for those employees who came into service in 2004.