Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The main opposition Congress on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Madhya Pradesh Assembly after the government stated that it had no plans to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
Sections of government employees have been demanding that the OPS be restored in place of the New Pension Scheme.
Senior Congress MLA Sajjan Singh Verma raised the issue during Question Hour.
Finance Minister Jagdish Devda informed the House that restoration of the OPS was not on cards.
"No proposal for the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme is under consideration. The government has implemented the New Pension Scheme for employees who joined service after January 1, 2005," he said.
Protesting the government's reply, Verma said lakhs of employees are staging dharnas (sit-ins) on the issue, and the ministers who visit them later throw their memorandum in the dustbin.
He again asked whether the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had any plans to implement OPS in the future.
Speaker Girish Gautam said the minister had already replied on the issue.
Leader of Opposition Dr Govind Singh said that more than seven lakh employees were demanding implementation of the OPS.
"This government is anti-employees and is not protecting them. Therefore, Congress members will stage a walkout on the issue," he said.
In December, state Congress chief Kamal Nath had said if his party came to power in the state after the next elections, it would implement the OPS.
Government employees are agitating under the banner of the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme.
Some states including Punjab have announced plans to implement the OPS under which an employee gets 50 per cent of the last drawn monthly salary as pension as against the NPS which is a market-linked scheme.
