Employees’ Big Demand Regarding OPS, Major Government Decision, Read Details

OPS Pension System: The Yogi government is taking major steps for government employees. New rules are periodically implemented to benefit employees. Recently, the Yogi government made a major decision: the NPS accounts of those appointed in 2002 will be closed from February 28th. After this, employees will be able to avail themselves of OPS benefits.

During the question session in the Legislative Council, Dr. Mansingh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) asked whether those appointed in 2005 but given the opportunity to work later should be counted. A government order has been issued to provide OPS to such employees, but the amount deposited in their NPS accounts has not been credited to their GPF accounts. So, when will this amount be deposited into the GPF accounts so that people can be enrolled in OPS?

In response, Minister of State for Industrial Development Jaswant Singh Saini stated in Parliament that the National Pension Accounts of such employees will be closed on February 28th. After this, employees appointed and selected in 2005 will begin receiving the benefits of the old pension.

The question was raised in December last year.

The issue of OPS for employees was raised in the Legislative Assembly in December 2005. The Assembly took serious note of the Secondary Education Department’s failure to provide OPS benefits to those eligible for the old pension as per the government order and directed the matter to be resolved within a month. Following this, the Teachers’ Group leader, Dhruv Kumar Tripathi, raised the question that, under an order issued on June 28, 2005, the system provided the option to apply under the Old Pension System instead of the National Pension System to government servants whose selection advertisements were issued on March 28, 2005. This benefit is being provided to many teachers and employees in the state.

However, officials of the Secondary Education Department are blatantly violating the government order by arbitrarily denying the benefits of the government order to specialists appointed in aided secondary schools since 2002. Chairman Kunwar Manvendra Singh took the matter seriously and directed the government to resolve it within a month.

Employees’ Demands on OPS

According to reports, employees appointed after 2005 in the state are demanding the implementation of OPS. This month, the Fourth Class Employees Federation in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, demonstrated by flying kites with the words “OPS” written on them. Following this, the employees took out a rally to TD College Square. They announced that the agitation would continue until their demands were met.