E-Paper
Government employees to go on indefinite strike from March 14 seeking OPS
Mumbai: The employees from government and semi-government organisations have called for a state-wide indefinite strike from March 14 to push their demand to re-launch the old pension scheme (OPS)
Mumbai: The employees from government and semi-government organisations have called for a state-wide indefinite strike from March 14 to push their demand to re-launch the old pension scheme (OPS). Reportedly, 1.5 million employees will participate in the protest.
Vishwas Katkar, general secretary, Rajya Sarkari Karmachari Madhyavarti Sanghatana and convenor of the coordination committee of various other unions said, “We have been holding meetings at district and tehsil levels over the last few weeks. More than 60 organisations are part of the coordination committee formed to take a call on the further course of action. We have served notice of the protest on Friday. More than 1.5 million government employees across the state and over half a million pensioners will participate in the indefinite strike from March 14. Though the gazetted officers are not participating in the strike, they have supported us,” he added.
Katkar said teachers, non-teaching staff, employees from urban and local bodies, and government employees in various departments are participating in the indefinite strike.
Katkar said that OPS has always been beneficial to them. “A class-3 clerk would get a pension of about ₹28,000 under the OPS against which he has been getting merely ₹8,000 under the NPS,” he said.
After initial resistance, the state government has announced to consider the relaunch of the OPS. Chief minister Eknath Shinde last week announced a high-level committee to study the possibility of relaunching the OPS. During the legislative council polls in January, CM and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis announced considering the relaunch of the OPS. In December, Fadnavis had said that implementation of the OPS will cripple the state economy. The state discontinued the OPS on November 1, 2005
Stay updated with all the Breaking News and Latest News from Mumbai. Click here for comprehensive coverage of top Cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and more across India along with Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News.
