OPS issue: Govt should take measures to increase income, says MLC Satyajeet Tambe

His response came when deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, the impact of OPS if implemented, will be felt by 2030

Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Satyajeet Tambe, in a calling attention motion, raised questions on the existing issues of the old pension scheme (OPS), which many unions have been demanding for the last several months.

Tambe said 16.5 crore people avail of various pension schemes across the country, out of which 84 lakh government employees in India fall under new or old pension schemes. (HT FILE PHOTO)

“The state government needs to decide on a war-footing basis in their meeting,” Tambe said in the council.

Tambe said government lays more emphasis on the fact of rising prices, instead, they should focus on how to raise more income for the people.

“They are doing nothing to generate income and then control spending money on the people of Maharashtra. This will yield nothing,” Tambe said.

His response came when deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, the impact of OPS if implemented, will be felt by 2030.

“I am thinking of long term as the OPS will have its impact post-2030. We are not the ones taking decisions keeping in mind short-term gains. In any case, I am willing to speak to employee unions and if they have a better solution to this, we are willing to accept it,” Fadnavis said during the assembly session.

“Not just that, gratuity and family pension initiatives are not yet implemented in the state. The central government has implemented the same but Maharashtra is yet to put it into practice. Such small gestures help people and provide considerable relief until the issue is solved,” Tambe added.

The recently elected MLC from Nashik said that cashless mediclaim should be carried out for all government employees. “Most of the money that they are to receive as aid gets wasted in running around to claim the scheme. People don’t get their claim for more than two years,” he said.

Tambe also urged the education minister that there are ample questions and concerns of teachers, education staff, and educational institutions which need to be addressed to solve their issues.