Nagaland govt employees protest demanding restoration of OPS

Kohima: Hundreds of government employees in Nagaland on Thursday took to the streets demanding scrapping of the new pension scheme (NPS) and unified pension scheme (UPS) and restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS).

Participating in the protest called by the Confederation of All Nagaland State Services Employees Association (CANSSEA) and Nagaland National Pension Scheme Government Service Employees Forum (NNPSGSEF) in support of All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF), the employees held banners and placards.

Also, they shouted slogans in fulfilment of their demands.

They said that the OPS provided social security to employees with guaranteed lifetime reasonable pension.

The new scheme "does not provide social security and guarantees lower monthly pension to long-surviving pensioners", they said.

The NNPSGSEF and CANSSEA officials also submitted a 10-point charter of demand to the State government through the Chief Secretary.

They demanded the repeal of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Act, scrapping NPS and UPS and restoring the OPS.

They also sought to direct the fund managers to return the amount deposited to the state governments and to bring all subscribers under EPS 95 to the Defined Benefit Pension System.

The state has over 40,000 employees already recruited since January 1, 2004, who are under the NPS and with recruitment continuing, the number is further increasing, said CANSSEA advisor Dr Ilang.

Terming NPS as the "No Pension Scheme" and UPS "Ulta Pension Scheme", he said these are useless and non-beneficial for the government employees for retirement and therefore the state government employees want restoration of OPS.

NNPSGSEF president Moanungsang said that the "peaceful dharna" was held to stand in solidarity with the "national strike" organised by the All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF).

Nagaland government employees fully support the denouncement of UPS by the AISGEF, which was recently launched by the Central government proposing to implement it from April 1, 2025.

"We want OPS and nothing else," he reiterated.

NNPSGSEF spokesperson Avizo Nienu affirmed that the federation would not continue to press for the demand till it's complied with by the government.

While there is no specific dateline, the federation would wait for about a month and raise the issue again, he said while also wondering if those sitting in the chair are willing to take the risk if the NPS subscribers face any problem following retirement.

"The NPS and UPS is a bomb for the retirement life of government employees," he said.

Every month 10 per cent of the employee salary is deducted for NPS but the money is missing, he said, while highlighting that as per records of FY 2023-24, accounts of 1023 employees are still nil.

"OPS is the organic system for government employees which will result in a happy, healthy and satisfied retirement life," he said.