OPS is our commitment, we will implement it: Agnihotri
Deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri said the Congress government has given the gift of OPS to 1.36 lakh employees of the state. He said that after the decision of the state government, 1,17,521 employees have adopted OPS while 1,356 employees are still in NPS.
Deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri while replying to a question raised in the House regarding the implementation of old pension scheme (OPS) said, “OPS is our commitment, and we will implement it”.
He said the Congress government has given the gift of OPS to 1.36 lakh employees of the state. He said that after the decision of the state government, 1,17,521 employees have adopted OPS while 1,356 employees are still in NPS.
While replying to the question raised in the Assembly by BJP MLA from Una, Satpal Singh Satti, the deputy chief minister said that the Congress government is proud of giving the gift of OPS to 1.36 lakh employees of the state.
Riding on the guarantee of implementing OPS, the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government came to power in Himachal Pradesh in 2022.
Agnihotri said that under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), the state government has deposited ₹9,242 crore with the Centre. “Out of this, 50% of the amount belongs to the state government and 50% to the employees. Until the money of the state government deposited with the Centre is not returned, the employees will not be eligible for OPS,” said the deputy CM.
He said that as per the standard operating procedure to come into OPS, the employees will have to return the share of the state government received from the Centre to the state government on retirement. “As soon as this money is deposited with the government, the old pension of the employee concerned will be restored and he will start getting the benefits of OPS,” he said.
Agnihotri, who also holds the portfolio of transport, said that the state government has implemented OPS in HRTC and its implementation in the electricity board is under consideration.
While replying to a question raised by BJP MLA from Sullah in Kangra, Vipin Singh Parmar, on implementing Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), the deputy chief minister said that to implement UPS the govt will examine the pros and cons of the scheme.
