State committed to giving justice to govt pensioners: Ajit Pawar

NAGPUR: The Maharashtra government will take a decision on the old pension scheme (OPS) before the upcoming assembly elections, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar announced in the state legislative council on Tuesday

NAGPUR: The Maharashtra government will take a decision on the old pension scheme (OPS) before the upcoming assembly elections, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar announced in the state legislative council on Tuesday. Responding to a question raised by Kapil Patil of the Loktantrik Janata Dal and others, Pawar said the government was willing to consider the pensioners’ demands, and urged the employees’ union to defer its threatened indefinite strike scheduled for December 14.

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Earlier, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had also appealed to the union to postpone the strike, saying that the government had received recommendations from the three-member committee appointed to examine the OPS. “We will study these, discuss the issue with the employees’ union and subsequently take a decision,” he said. “While we are not opposed to the OPS in principle, we need time to assess its financial implications on the state economy.”

Government and semi-government employees have been demanding the restoration of the more lucrative OPS, which was discontinued in 2005. Following a strike by employees, a committee was set up in March 2023, comprising former bureaucrats Subodh Kumar, K P Bakshi and Sudhir Kumar Shrivastava, and a director (accounts and treasury) as its secretary. The committee was given three months to submit recommendations.

Interacting with media persons on Tuesday, Ajit Pawar acknowledged a change in his earlier stance against the employees’ demands. He said the government aimed to strike a balance between salaries, pension amounts and the burden on the state’s finances, and that discussions on the issue had taken place with Fadnavis and CM Eknath Shinde. Pawar reiterated that the union government was actively working on the matter ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, and eligible individuals were expected to receive financial benefits from 2021 onwards.

Responding to a question about the change in stance being influenced by political considerations, Pawar acknowledged, “Of course it is one of the key reasons. If a decision is hurting people, then we as politicians don’t do it.”

Meanwhile, addressing a gathering of teachers and non-teaching staff, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray declared his party’s support for the old pension scheme. “If the Shiv Sena (UBT) comes to power, state government employees will get OPS,” he said.