Government employees stage bike rally in Thane to protest against new pension scheme

Thousands of Class 2 and Class 3 State and Central Government officers from Thane District staged a bike rally to protest against the new pension scheme and requested the government to reinstate the old pension scheme

Thousands of Class 2 and Class 3 State and Central Government officers from Thane District staged a bike rally to protest against the new pension scheme and requested the government to reinstate the old pension scheme.

Class 2 and Class 3 employees of Central and State Government offices stage a bike rally in Thane on Wednesday to protest against the new pension scheme. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

Men and women employees participated in large numbers at the busy Jambli Naka market area on Wednesday under the aegis of Maharashtra’s Central Employee Association, Thane branch.

The employees claimed that the Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan governments had reinstated the old pension after massive protests by government employees.

The rally started at around noon from the Zilla Parishad office in the market and ended at the Thane Collector’s office after an hour.

The old pension scheme was replaced in December 2003 by the BJP-led Central Government when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. Its substitute, the National Pension Scheme (NPS), took effect from April 1, 2004. The NPS allows government employees to decide where they want to invest their money by contributing regularly in a pension account throughout their career. After retirement, they can withdraw a part of the pension amount in lump sum and use the rest to buy an annuity for a regular income.

A rally participant, Ratan Lokhande, said, “With the old pension scheme, we knew how much pension we would get after retirement, which is half of our current salary. But, in the new pension scheme, after investing part of our salary amount in the market, the assurance of returns are different. Recently, a Class 3 government officer was allotted only ₹500 pension. How will he manage his expenses? There is no assurance of a pension amount after spending so much time in a government job. If other State Governments can reinstate old pension scheme, then why not the Maharashtra government?”

An officer from the Collector’s office said that their demands will be forwarded to the State Government.