New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday slammed former Planning Commission deputy chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia for calling the move to bring back Old Pension Scheme (OPS) “absurd” and said that serving employees have the right to feel secure too, news agency ANI reported.
“If the country can have OPS for 60 years and retire an employee with pension, can’t a serving employee has the right to feel secure too,” ANI quoted CM Gehlot as saying.
It is to be noted that CM Gehlot’s remarks came in the wake of Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s remark that the move by certain opposition-ruled state governments to bring back the OPS was an “absurd idea” and a “recipe for financial bankruptcy.”
Ahluwalia made the remarks at a book launch event on Friday. Speaking at the event, he cautioned the state governments that bringing back the Old Pension Scheme could be a regressive step and it also lead to financial insolvency.
Ahluwalia further said that this decision to bring back the old pension scheme may be an ‘absurd idea’ considering the economic challenges the country and the world are already grappling with.
Notably, this is not the first time Montek Ahluwalia has spoken against OPS. Recently, he had said that OPS is one of the biggest cess given by the state governments.
It is to be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often spoken out against political parties developing and promoting a culture of free rein.
Under OPS, the pension of central and state government employees was fixed at 50 per cent of the last drawn basic pay, while under the new system of the pension scheme, 10 per cent of the basic pay and dearness allowance will be contributed by the employee.
The new scheme has come into force for those employees who came into service in 2004.
Rajasthan had returned to the OPS from March 2022, retrospectively for employees.
Chief minister Gehlot has proposed for reviving the old pension scheme in other states and also urged the central government to come forward to make the policy.