ES Reporter 

ITANAGAR, Dec 28: Reiterating its demands,the state unit of the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS) has once again appealed to the state government to revert back to the old pension scheme (OPS) by discontinuing the existing National Pension Scheme (NPS) in the state.
NMOPS claimed that the OPS is  beneficial for pensioners as well as for the state government while the NPS is purely benefiting the interest of private companies ignoring government employees.
Addressing the media persons at the press club here today, NMOPS President Dakme Abo said the organization has repeatedly submitted representation on the matter to the state government. However, there is no response for last  two years, and the organization has decided that entire officers from Grade D to IAS level will be wearing ‘black badges’ as a mark of protest from January first week until the demand is accepted.  
The organization in the month of March 2021 had submitted a representation to the Chief Minister as well as Chief Secretary but there was no response. Therefore, NMOPS has yet again submitted a reminder so that the grievances of the government employees are heard.
Abo said the only legislator who raised concern over the matter during the Assembly session was Mutchu Mithi. But Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein straightforwardly denied stating it is a matter of the central government.
“If it is a matter of the central government, why states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh reversed NPS to the OPS? Our state government should not always make excuses for the central government. Rather they should look into the concern of their own people for their betterment and sustainability in the line of other states," he said.
Meanwhile, NMOPS Information & Publicity Secretary, Ojing Payang while highlighting the demerits of the NPS said that there are around twenty six thousand government employees in the state under NPS. Surprisingly none of the employees are benefiting from NPS even after retirement.
He said every year the state government deposits around Rs. 96 crore in National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), which is a huge loss for the state government. Whereas, in OPS, the money is kept in the state treasury, which can be used for the development of the state.  
“NPS is more like investing in share market where there is no guarantee of social as well as economic stability of the government employees. Also, OPS guarantees benefits for the employee and the nominee but there is no criteria which ease claiming process as well as the amount of pension in NPS,” he said.  
He said, in OPS there is no deduction in monthly salary but 10% is deducted in the NPS. The government claims there is a huge turnover after retirement but none of the pensioners have yet gained a profit. While an employee can withdraw the full amount of GPF with interest, NPS only allows 60% of the withdrawal, he added.
“Likewise, there is a number of demerits in the NPS as compared to the OPS for government employees. Therefore, we appeal to the state government to roll back to the OPS for the welfare of the employees and their families,” he added.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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