Opposition questions Punjab government over delay in old pension scheme implementation

The issue of the revival of OPS was raised by Gidderbaha MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who is also the Punjab Congress president, and Banga MLA Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) during the zero hour on day four of the budget session

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Wednesday faced questions in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha regarding the delay in the implementation of the old pension scheme (OPS) for government employees in the state.

Punjab CM Punjab Bhagwant Mann speaking during debate in Chandigarh on Wednesday. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

The issue of the revival of OPS was raised by Gidderbaha MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who is also the Punjab Congress president, and Banga MLA Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) during the zero hour on day four of the budget session. Both leaders demanded immediate implementation of the scheme. Warring said that Punjab employees are fighting for the implementation of OPS in place of the new pension scheme (NPS) which was introduced in 2004. The Congress MLA said the AAP government had made the promise to implement the old pension scheme and then Arvind Kejriwal (party’s national convener) also tweeted to announce that (Punjab chief minister) Bhagwant Mann has fulfilled the promise and congratulated the state government employees. “What happened after that? A notification was issued by the state government on November 18, 2022, but the old pension scheme is still lying pending whereas three other states, including the government in Himachal Pradesh which was formed after Punjab, have implemented it,” the Congress MLA said, accusing the ruling party of using the issue for electoral gains.

Referring to the demand of the state employees, Sukhi said the state government should implement the old pension scheme at the earliest. The SAD MLA, while speaking on the issue of regularisation of staff, urged the government to regularise the services of contractual employees of Punjab School Education Board and Samagra Shiksha.

CM Bhagwant Mann had first announced the revival of OPS in September 2022 and subsequently in November, the state government issued the notification, stating that all the government employees, who are presently being covered under the contributory pension scheme, will be given the benefits of the old pension scheme.

Over 12k acres of land freed from encroachers: minister

Earlier, during the question hour, rural development and panchayats minister Laljit Singh Bhullar said the state government has freed up 12,341 acres of land from the clutches of encroachers to date. “The department has set up a Special Shamlat cell to monitor the status of legal cases for freeing the Shamlat lands of different Gram Panchayats from encroachers and ensure execution of warrants of possession duly issued. The possession of such lands is being handed over back to the concerned Gram Panchayats,” the minister said in response to leader of opposition and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa’s question regarding the steps taken by the department to remove encroachment from panchayati land of Kahnuwan in Gurdaspur district.

The minister said that as per the report of the additional deputy commissioner (development), Gurdaspur, sarpanch, Gram panchayat, and panchayat secretary, Kahnuwan, were found guilty of conniving with the encroachers of the panchayati land which was Abadi Deh (Lal Lakir). ”Disciplinary action has been taken against them. A case has been filed under section-7 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act 1961 in the court of DDPO cum Collector for taking back possession of the said land,” he added.

AAP MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh asked the local government minister whether the government has any plan to improve the sewerage system in Amritsar and raised questions over the working of the municipal body. He also spoke about the contamination of drinking water. In response, local government minister Balkar Singh said that Amritsar city has three sewage treatment plants, and as these plants are running overloaded, it is necessary to increase their capacity. He said that the proposal of enhancement of sewerage treatment is under consideration. “A project for 24 x 7 supply of canal water under World Bank Scheme in Amritsar city is under progress which will be completed by the year 2025, which will relieve the public from the complaints of water contamination,” the minister added.

School education minister Harjot Singh Bains said the issue of a hike in the honorarium of mid-day meal workers has been raised with the central government for the financial year 2024-25. The minister was replying to AAP MLA Gurpreet Singh Banawali’s question in this regard. The minister said that cook-cum-helpers are engaged on a part-time basis by School Management Committees on honorarium as per the guidelines of the PM POSHAN Scheme with additional funds from the state government.