Dharamshala: Demanding restoration of Old Pension Scheme, thousands of state government employees, under the banner of New Pension Scheme Employees Association (NPSEA) Himachal Pradesh, on Saturday gathered at Dharamshala and pressed for their demand.
State government employees staged a protest at Jorawar Singh Stadium at Dharamshala and demanded the state government to cover them under Old Pension Scheme. Failing to get an audience with Chief Minister, agitating employees gave an ultimatum to the government till 2 PM upon which they were called for discussion.
In a meeting with representatives of the New Pension Scheme Employees Association, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur assured to constitute a committee to look into the matter and listen to their grievances in a time-bound manner. By the evening the state government also constituted the committee to look into the demands of the employees.
However, on the first day of the winter session of the Vidhan Sabha, the state chief minister had vehemently denied restoring the Old Pension Scheme in the state
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, in a reply laid on the table of the house, on a question raised by the Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, MLAs Ram Lal Thakur, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Jagat Singh Negi, made his stand clear of not restoring Old Pension Scheme.
“As per estimates, the state government will have to bear the one-time expenditure of around Rs 2,000 crore for implementing old pension scheme while there will be a recurring expenditure of about Rs 500 crore every year,” CM said in his reply.
