New Delhi, Oct 1: Thousands of central and state government employees from across the country gathered at the Ramlila Maidan here on Sunday to demand the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, with several opposition parties also extending support to the protesters.
Opposition leaders including AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his Congress colleagues Arvinder Singh Lovely, Sandeep Dikshit and Udit Raj, and Bahujan Samaj Party MP Shyam Singh Yadav, besides farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, joined the rally.
The protesters who had gathered under the banner of the Joint Forum for Restoration of Old Pension Scheme (JFROPS) and National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) said they were worried about their post-retirement future.
“The employees who joined government service after January 1, 2004 are strongly opposing the New Pension Scheme. They are worried about their future after retirement because they have been deprived of the Old Pension Scheme and forced into the New Pension Scheme,” said Shiv Gopal Mishra, National Convener and General Secretary of All India Railway Men’s Federation.
At the maha rally, the organisers claimed that government employees from 20 states were participating in the rally. The protesters said that the party which promises to restore the Old Pension Scheme should be voted to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Holding placards and flags, the protesters raised slogans of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and ‘Karamchari Ekta Zindabad’.
“We had given a call to bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and we had successfully brought back the OPS in several states with our struggle.
“Our team believed that if the central government ratifies this (OPS), then the onus won’t be on the state government. This is why we had come to Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan (to protest),” National Movement For Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) leader Vijay Kumar Bandhu, told PTI Video.
Noting that Congress-ruled states have restored OPS, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and other party leaders said as soon its government is formed at the Centre, it will implement OPS in the entire country. “These OPS protests show the anger of our steel frame, the government officers, against the ruling regime,” AICC general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal said. ”We implemented OPS in Congress-ruled states because it is their right. This crowd of 20 lakh people tells a story – the BJP’s days are numbered,” Venugopal said on X. (PTI)
