VIJAYAWADA: The Millennium March called by the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) Employees’ Association on September 1 has been throwing a challenge to the officials, mainly the police. Police are taking all steps to foil the protest as they don’t want a repeat of the success of ‘Chalo Vijayawada’ protest by government employees in February 2022.
The police have started issuing notices to the members of employees’ unions, mainly the teacher’s unions, across the State. The police are also giving warnings to lodge owners in Vijayawada as well as taxi drivers across the State.
Recently, Ministers Botcha Satyanarayana, Buggana Rajendranath Reddy and Karumuri Nageswararao held talks with the CPS employees’ unions and offered Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) in place of Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) with some additional benefits including health cards, but the meeting ended inconclusively.
With the government taking all steps to foil the protest, the issue has become a major topic for discussion across the State. Leaders of the employees union said they would take a decision on Monday (August 29) on the Millenium March to be organised on September 1.
Speaking to TNIE, Palela Ramanjaneyulu Yadav, founder of the Andhra Pradesh Contributory Pension Scheme Employees Association (APCPSEA) and National Moment for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) said that they had been organising protests on September 1 treating it as a ‘black day’ for the past few years as the CPS was introduced on the same day. He demanded that the Chief Minister fulfil his promise of bringing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) instead of the CPS.
“The Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) is not acceptable to us. In Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the CPS was scrapped from April-2022 and Old Pension Schemes have been restored,” he pointed out and demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government follow suit. MC Rajanarasimha, associate president of APCPSEA, said the Finance minister stated in the Assembly that the implementation of CPS would become a burden on the State. He alleged that the government has been not releasing the matching grant of 10 per cent for the past seven months. In that case, how can the government release a 14 percent matching grant for the GPS? he sought to know.
APCPSEA State president Mannam Srinivas said that Jagan, who promised to scrap the CPS within a week of coming to power, did not implement it even after three years. “It is not a good practice to give notices to employees and teachers and arrest them for holding protests for their genuine demands,” he observed.
Andhra Pradesh Upadhyaya Sangam State President CH Sravan Kumar said the government should scrap CPS, taking a leaf out of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh’s government’s book. Mukala Apparao, state president of Noble Teachers Association, said that the government’s tough stand against the Millennium March, which will be organised peacefully, and issuing notices to employees are reminiscent of a state of Emergency.
State General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Upadhyaya Sangam S Balaji said that it is not appropriate to house arrest teachers and employees. He alleged that police officials are visiting schools to issue notices to teachers.
Two States scrapped CPS, unions point out
Palela Ramanjaneyulu Yadav, founder of APCPSEA, demanded that the Chief Minister fulfil his promise. “In Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the CPS was scrapped from April-2022 and Old Pension Schemes have been restored,” he pointed out and demanded that the AP government follow suit