Sukhu keeps promise, clears old pension scheme in first cabinet meeting

CHANDIGARH:  The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet headed by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in its first meeting on Friday decided to provide Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to all the state government employees who are currently covered under the defined contributory pension scheme, also referred to as New Pension Scheme (NPS).

The government decision will benefit about 1.36 lakh NPS employees in the state. Congress had made a poll promise to restore OPS. With this, Himachal becomes the third Congress-ruled state to restore OPS after Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The Sukhu-led cabinet also decided to adopt the party’s election manifesto as the policy document of the government. All ministers, secretaries and heads of departments will implement it fully.

After the cabinet meeting, Sukhu said the OPS issue has been studied deeply as the officers from finance department had expressed reservations about it. “The issue has been settled and all the employees currently under the NPS will be covered under the OPS,” he said “We had promised to implement the OPS in the first cabinet meeting and we have done it. A notification will be issued soon,’’ he said.

The cabinet also decided to form a cabinet sub-committee to finalize a roadmap for the implementation of the promises made by Congress during the elections for creating one lakh employment opportunities in the state. It also expressed deep gratitude to the President of All India Congress Committee Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for their dynamic leadership that resulted in the spectacular victory of the party in the recently concluded assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh. Meanwhile, Sukhu would preside over the meeting with MLAs for fixing their priorities in the annual budget for the year 2023-24 on January  30  and 31.