After council poll rout, Shinde-Fadnavis may have to take a call on OPS

The ruling alliance’s disastrous performance in the council polls - losing three out of five seats - may force the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis duo to do a serious rethink on bringing back the old pension scheme (OPS)

The ruling alliance’s disastrous performance in the council polls - losing three out of five seats - may force the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis duo to do a serious rethink on bringing back the old pension scheme (OPS).

Mumbai, India - October 10, 2022: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during the launch of "Ayushman Bharat Health Card" in the presence of Minister of Public Health Tanaji Sawant, at Mantralaya, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, October 10, 2022. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders admit that OPS did play a role in their defeat in the teachers’ constituencies in Nagpur and Aurangabad. This is despite Shinde and Fadnavis announcing during the campaign that the state would consider reintroducing OPS.

“Fadnavis’s announcement in the assembly expressing his inability to implement OPS spoiled the ruling parties’ chances. It was too late by the time Shinde and Fadnavis realised their mistake and announced to reconsider it,” a senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity, said.

Kapil Patil, an MLC from teachers’ constituency, too agreed that OPS was one of the factors that decided the outcome of polls. “It is an issue very close to the teachers’ hearts.”

Fadnavis could not be contacted for his comments as he did not respond to text messages.

Government employees and teachers have been demanding that the state revive OPS which was discontinued in 2005. The government contention, on the other hand, has been that it would cost the state exchequer a whopping ₹55,000 crore to cover around 6 lakh pensioners.

According to officials from the finance department, OPS will push the expenditure by at least 35%, leaving hardly any funds for development works.

“We have been spending more than ₹41,000 crore annually on new pension scheme since OPS was stopped on November 1, 2005. Bringing OPS back would cost the state exchequer ₹55,000 crore, which in turn will take a toll on development works. Currently, we spend a little over 30% of the revenue receipts on development works but implementation of OPS will leave no money on that head,” an official, who refused to be named, said.

Besides, it would not be possible to relaunch OPS immediately, the BJP leader, who was quoted above, said. “There needs to be a proper deliberation within the government if they are ready to bear the additional burden. An announcement in this regard during the budget session is unlikely.”

Vishwas Katkar, general secretary, Rajya Sarkari Karmachari Madhyavarti Sanghtana, claimed that the state had been giving false figures.

“Fadnavis said a whopping ₹1.10 lakh crore would be spent annually from the state’s kitty if OPS was brought back. But this is an inflated figure as it would be the expenditure over the next 10 years. According to our calculations, the burden on the state exchequer will hardly be anything as the economy grows around 12% per year,” he said.

Katkar further said class three employees would get around ₹22,000 a month in the old pension scheme against ₹10,000 in the current one. “The government should work out a formula under which it would not have to bear any financial burden after implementing OPS.”

State BJP leaders are also worried over Fadnavis’s announcement as it runs counter to the central leadership’s years-old policy on OPS.

“We lost Himachal Pradesh polls because of the OPS announcement made by the Congress. Our local HP leaders such as Anurag Thakur were insistent on OPS but the central leadership was against it. Even the Narendra Modi government has not implemented it for the central government employees. Pressure could mount if it was relaunched in Maharashtra,” a BJP leader said.

State government employees have planned to stage protests across Maharashtra over the issue ahead of the budget session beginning on February 27.