BJP, opposition spar over UPS; AAP says latest pension scheme worse than NPS | Mint

The decision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government to approve the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government employees has kicked up yet another political storm, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition led by the Congress party trading charges over the decision.

The controversy over the decision approved on August 23 is not dying down and the Congress claims that the ‘U’ in UPS stands for a ‘U-turn’ by the Modi government. The BJP hit back at the opposition party, asking why it has not implemented the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in states where it is in power.

Congress’ Bharat Block ally Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has termed the UPS a “big betrayal” of the country’s employees as it will not cover paramilitary forces as “their service itself is not 25 years”, which is the eligibility criteria to get full benefits under the UPS.

The controversy comes days after a political row erupted over a UPSC advertisement about ‘lateral entry’ into bureaucracy. The Modi government ordered the withdrawal of the advertisement on August 21, three days after it was released, amid uproar from the opposition and some BJP allies.

According to the government, UPS ensures pension of 50 per cent of basic pay for those joining the service after January 1, 2004, fulfilling a long-pending demand of government employees. Employees opting for UPS will be eligible for assured pension after 25 years of service.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took a dig at the Modi government, saying, “The ‘U’ in UPS means U-turn by the Modi government! After June 4 (when the Lok Sabha election results were declared), the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of power of the Prime Minister.”

“Rollback on long term capital gains/indexation in Budget. Sending Wakf Bill to JPC. Rollback on Broadcast Bill. Rollback on Lateral Entry,” he said in a post on X.

Worse than NPS: You

In a post on Twitter, Aam Aadmi Party said, “Integrated Pension Scheme is worse than New Pension Scheme. This is a huge fraud with the employees of the country. Paramilitary forces of the country are excluded from this pension scheme. They will not come under this purview because their service itself is not 25 years.”

AAP leader and Delhi government minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told news agency ANI, “It has been proved that what all parties and opposition parties were saying was right. The opposition was raising the voice of the people. The central government itself suppressed all its employees. The way the central government employees voted against the BJP, it has come to its senses and I think they (BJP) will take back their other decisions like the Agniveer scheme very soon.”

However, the BJP praised Prime Minister Modi for bringing the UPS. Senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Congress has made the old pension scheme a big issue in Indian politics in the last two years. Not only this, during the elections in Himachal Pradesh, Congress also got Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to announce that if the party comes to power, it will implement the old pension scheme in the state.”

He criticised Congress president Kharge for his “U-turn” jibe at the Centre.

The former Union minister said the Modi government does not take “ad hoc decisions”. He asked Kharge to tell the country why his party took a “U-turn” from its election promise to implement the old pension scheme after coming to power in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana.

He said, “Will this Congress only make announcements or will it also implement them? Congress in general and Rahul Gandhi in particular please tell the country whether you have implemented the old pension scheme as promised in Himachal Pradesh.”

The BJP leader accused Gandhi of deceiving people by making false promises for votes and asked him to refrain from such acts.

He said, “We are proud of Prime Minister Modi that he listened and understood the concerns of the (central government) employees, formed a committee to consider it and a meaningful decision was taken. On behalf of the party, we congratulate the government, especially the Prime Minister, for this.”

Prasad said the Congress was “so tired of the blatant lies” about its assurances about the pension scheme that it could not muster the courage to include it in its Lok Sabha election manifesto.