In a significant move, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena has issued orders for stopping the contribution of state government employees covered under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) from April 1, 2023, onwards, paving the way for the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). The employees and employer's share covered under NPS, which was being deposited with the Central Government, will be stopped with this order.
The restoration of the OPS was a key promise made by the Congress government to the state government employees in the run-up to the 2022 Vidhan Sabha polls. The cabinet had already given its approval for the restoration of the OPS on January 13, 2023. The move will benefit 1.36 lakh state government employees in Himachal Pradesh.
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The poor financial health of the state was a significant hurdle in the restoration of the OPS. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has been accusing the previous BJP regime of leaving a debt liability of Rs 11,000 crore on account of arrears due to employees. The total debt burden on the state government has already exceeded Rs 75,400 crore. Under pressure to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people, the Congress regime has laid thrust on resource mobilization to be able to honor the commitment made to the people at the time of elections.
Apart from the restoration of the OPS, the other guarantees made by the Congress government include 300 units of free power and Rs 1500 monthly financial assistance to all women between 18 to 60 years of age. The intimation for stopping employees and employer's share being deposited with the Centre from April 1 has been sent to all the administrative secretaries, divisional commissioners, heads of department, Accountant General Office, and all other offices.