Thousands gather in protest at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, demand Old Pension Scheme back

Digital Desk: Thousands of workers from the federal, state, and PSU sectors gathered at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan to protest against the New Pension Scheme and demand the return of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). An article claims that more than 20 states' worth of public sector workers and employees of PSUs have gathered for the "Pension Shankhanaad Rally" to demonstrate against the Central government. National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) organised the protest.

Asserting that the states it controls have reinstated the previous pension, Congress resorted to the microblogging platform X to endorse protests against the New Pension Scheme.

Congress said, “Old pension is the right of the employees. Congress and state governments have restored the old pension. Our policy regarding this is clear – employees must get their rights. Modi government should restore the old pension, honor the workers who serve the country."

Videos of the demonstration at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan show a sea of government workers yelling anti-Centre slogans and calling for the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, said he asked the federal government to adopt the old pension plan for Delhi government employees on Sunday and expressed support for it. His comments came as several central and state government employees from more than 20 states demonstrated at the Ramlila Maidan here in support of the restoration of the old pension plan.

“We strongly support the demand of government employees to bring back OPS. NPS is an injustice against employees. We have implemented OPS in Punjab and have written to the Centre for implementing it for Del govt employees. Some other non-BJP governments have also implemented OPS," Arvind Kejriwal said in a post on 'X'.

In the meantime, an essay by RBI employees stated that states returning to the previous pension plan is a "major step backward" and may raise the states' economic burden to "unsustainable levels" in the medium to long term.

According to the report, the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) might have a cumulative fiscal burden that is up to 4.5 times greater than the New Pension Scheme, which was put in place more than ten years ago as part of pension reforms.