Led by pension samiti, govt staff take out march in Hisar

Tribune News Service

Hisar, September 1

Rejecting both Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) and New Pension Scheme (NPS), the Pension Bahali Sangharsh Samiti (PBSS) Haryana — a body of government employees of the state— demanded the implementation of the old pension scheme (OPS) and threatened to hit the ruling BJP in the Assembly election.

The samiti organised a state-level employees meeting at the New Grain Market in Hisar today. They later also carried out a Tiranga Yatra in the town to highlight their issues. Thousands of employees from across the state attended the meeting and later took part in the march. They raised slogans against the government demanding restoration of the old pension scheme.

PBSS state president Vijender Dhariwal who presided over the employees meeting said that the employees from Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Jind, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts participated in today’s protest and Tiranga Yatra.

Addressing the employees at the meeting, state president Dhariwal hit out at the BJP government and said they oppose and condemn both plans of the NPS and UPS, which are being introduced by the Central Government. “No employee of Haryana agrees with the NPS and UPS. We demand the restoration of the OPS. The same government and its representatives have been appreciating the NPS earlier. But now, they have come up with the UPS. It is an admission on part of the government that there are shortcomings in the NPS,” he said.

The employees’ leader said the day was not far when the government would have to restore the OPS. “We hope that the government will review the UPS and NPS as these plans too have a number of shortcomings and are not in favour of the government employees,” he said adding that due to the pressure of the movement, the movement for the restoration of the OPS will continue.

Issuing a warning to the state government, the PBSS state president said Haryana employees had reduced the present government to five seats in the Lok Sabha poll. The campaign for voting for the OPS will continue in these Assembly elections as well,” he said. State general secretary of the employees’ body Rishi Nain said the employees of Haryana have shown the power of voting for the OPS to the government in the Lok Sabha elections. “Now, we hope that the new government will bring back the OPS in Haryana after the state Assembly elections,” he said, adding that lakhs of employees of Haryana are now in a do or die mood on the issue of OPS.

Hisar district president of the PBSS Dinesh Pabra thanked the government employees who came from across the state for attending the meeting. “We have demonstrated the power and strength of the government employees. It will also reflect in the state Assembly elections,” he said.