Govt employees to hold Family March to demand restoration of Old Pension Scheme in state on Nov 8

In order to seek the reinstatement of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), almost 17 lakh government and semi-government workers in Maharashtra have vowed to stage a Family March on November 8 in each district and tehsil of the state.

Participants of the march, to be taken out with the slogan of My Family, My Pension, will reach the offices of district collectors and tehsildars to press for their demand, Vishwas Katkar, convenor of a coordination committee of various organisations of state employees, said on Monday.

The OPS was discontinued in the state in 2005. "We have decided to take out a Family March in each district and tehsil on November 8 and submit our demand of restoration of the OPS. If there is no proper response, then we will go on an indefinite strike from December 14 for the demand of OPS, Katkar said.

The Maharashtra government has disappointed the workers by refusing to grant their request for the OPS, which offers an assured and consistent source of income after retirement. Additionally, they have called for the filling of all open positions and the cancellation of the indirect commercialization of the education sector.

Nearly 17 lakh government and semi-government employees will participate in the march, Katkar said. Under the OPS, a government employee gets a monthly pension equivalent to 50 per cent his/her last drawn salary. There was no need for contribution by employees. Under the New Pension Scheme, a state government employee contributes 10 per cent of his/her basic salary plus dearness allowance with the state making a matching contribution.