RAIPUR: A strikingly high percentage of government employees has decided to go ahead with the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in Chhattisgarh.Over 88 per cent of government staffers so far have given their choice following the Congress-ruled government’s proposition, asking them to opt either OPS or the New Pension Scheme (NPS).
The state finance department issued a notification on January 24 this year, giving one month to over three lakh beneficiaries to submit an affidavit citing their preference.Later, the department at the behest of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel extended the deadline to March 5. Once the choice is made by an employee, it will not be changed later.
Of the 3.02 lakh, over 2.68 lakh, almost 84 per cent, have accepted OPS with barely around 2,000 giving the other option, according to the official information.The remaining employees will have to decide by Sunday.Chief minister Baghel has announced revival of the OPS for the state employees in his previous state budget speech.
Later in May, he had sent a proposal to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority for the withdrawal of over Rs 17,000 crore accrued under the National Pension Scheme since November 2004.
The chief minister had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to return the state’s share in NPS. However, the Centre refused the state’s demand to give back the amount deposited in the NPS following which the Congress government took a decision to give an option to its employees to choose between the OPS and the NPS.
The Bhupesh Baghel cabinet has also decided that instead of November 1, 2004, the state employees will become members of the Chhattisgarh General Provident Fund (GPF) on April 1, 2022 and presented an option to those appointed before April 1, 2022, to either remain in the NPS or to join the OPS.
Chhattisgarh is among the non BJP-ruled states like Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand to have decided to take this move towards reverting to OPS for their employees.