NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday took a swipe at the Central government over its announcement of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), stating that the ‘U’ in UPS stands for Narendra Modi government’s U-turns.
The Cabinet on Saturday approved an assured pension of 50% of the base salary for those who joined the service after January 1, 2004 under the National Pension System (NPS).
Referring to four recent decisions of the government, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on social media platform X, suggested that Lok Sabha elections results announced on June 4 compelled the Centre to change its stand.
“The ‘U’ in UPS stands for Modi Govt’s U turns! Post June 4, the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of power of the Prime Minister. Rollback in the budget regarding Long Term Capital Gain/ Indexation, Sending Waqf Bill to JPC, Rollback of Broadcast Bill, Rollback of Lateral Entry… We will keep ensuring accountability and protect 140 cr Indians from this despotic government!” Kharge wrote.
However, Professionals' Congress chairman Praveen Chakravarty appeared to strike a divergent note from his party and said the introduction of the scheme was "welcome and prudent".
"Pension for govt staff in India is inherently a tax on the majority poor to pay the elite minority. So, OPS was reformed to NPS in 2013. But NPS did not assure a minimum amount for retired families," Chakravarty said in a post on X.
"Now, UPS does that UPS = NPS + Minimum guarantee. This is prudent & welcome," he said.
Though Chakravarty's X account is not verified, several top Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, follow it.
Fulfilling long-pending demands of government employees ahead of assembly elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, the Cabinet meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, approved the UPS, which assures guaranteed pension. The new pension scheme also guarantees an assured minimum pension of `10,000 per month on superannuation after a minimum of 10 years of service.
This option scheme will benefit 23 lakh Central government employees, it said, adding that the number would rise to 90 lakh if state governments want to join the scheme. The announcement came against the backdrop of several non-BJP states deciding to revert to the Dearness Allowance-linked Old Pension Scheme and employee unions in some other states raising demand for the same.
NPS has been implemented for all government employees joining the Central government on or after January 1, 2004.