The Modi government, which came to power for the third time by winning a little less than the majority, has taken many surprising decisions. One of these decisions is the announcement of the new pension scheme. The Modi government has approved a new pension scheme last week, which has been named ‘Unified Pension Scheme’ or ‘UPS’. The government has made this announcement at a time when employee organizations and opposition parties have been demanding the implementation of the old pension scheme (OPS) for a long time. Currently, on retirement, pension is received under the National Pension Scheme i.e. NPS. This scheme has been in force since January 2004.
UPS has a provision for a fixed pension after retirement, whereas it was not so in NPS. In NPS, employees were asked to deposit 10% of their salary every month. The government also contributed 14%, which was invested in the share market. Whatever pension was accrued after retirement, the employees got it in lump sum. UPS has a provision for a fixed pension every month. The government’s contribution has also been increased to 18.5%. Apart from this, if the employee dies, his family will continue to receive 60% of his pension every month.
The opposition has raised questions on this announcement of the Modi government. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote that ‘U in UPS means U-turn of the Modi government. After June 4, the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of power of the Prime Minister.’
This allegation of the opposition is not without reason. OPS was a big issue in the Lok Sabha elections and before that in the assembly elections of many states. In the states where Congress or opposition party formed the government, OPS was also implemented there. After the Congress government came to power in Himachal in 2022, OPS was again implemented here. Similarly, after the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab, pension started being given under OPS.
In June this year, before the budget, many trade unions had met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and demanded that NPS be abolished and OPS be implemented. Now the UPS decision has been taken at a time when the dates for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana have been announced just a week ago. Elections are also to be held in Maharashtra and Jharkhand at the end of this year. Assembly elections are also due in Delhi early next year. These are the states where the number of central government employees is quite good.
After pension, now it is the turn of legal guarantee of MSP?
Amidst the demand to restore the old pension scheme, the government has announced UPS, so can the farmers now get good news on the legal guarantee of MSP? Because MSP is such an issue, which can become a noose around the neck for the government in future. Farmers have been demanding a legal guarantee of MSP i.e. minimum support price for crops for a long time. MSP is a minimum price for crops. The demand for legal guarantee of MSP is such, for which farmers have been agitating.
87% of the people involved in India Today’s Mood of the Nation survey have agreed that farmers should get a legal guarantee of MSP. The demand for a legal guarantee of MSP gained momentum when farmers started a movement against the three agricultural laws in November 2020. After this movement that lasted for almost a year, the government withdrew these three laws but the issue of legal guarantee of MSP is still not resolved.
Many formulas were also given by the government regarding MSP, but the farmers are not going to accept anything less than its legal guarantee. In February this year, the farmers had announced to march to Delhi with this demand. Even now the farmers are standing at Shambhu border.
Agriculture expert Devinder Sharma has questioned, ‘When employees can get a fixed pension every month, why should farmers not get a legally fixed MSP?’ Linking UPS to MSP, he said, ‘If market-linked pension cannot be implemented for employees, then why do you think market-linked prices will work for farmers?’
However, the way the government has handled the pension issue has raised hopes that the MSP issue will also be resolved. The government had also formed a committee in July 2022 regarding MSP. This committee has held more than three dozen meetings with farmer organizations so far. It is hoped that like pension, a way can be found for the legal guarantee of MSP.
Then will there be some change in Agniveer too?
The Agnipath scheme was introduced in June 2022 for four-year recruitment in the three armies. Under this, youth between 17.5 and 21 years of age are recruited in the three armies.
Ever since the Agnipath scheme was launched, there has been controversy over it. When the Agnipath scheme was announced, youth across the country had protested. The opposition has also been cornering the government on Agniveer. Agniveer had also become a big issue in the Lok Sabha elections.
The biggest reason for the opposition to Agniveers is that after four years, 75% of Agniveers will be retired because only 25% will be retained in the army. These retired Agniveers are not guaranteed pension.
However, it is also true that in India Today’s Mood of the Nation survey, 65% people considered the Agniveer scheme to be correct. Out of these, 27% said that the Agniveer scheme should be continued without any changes. Whereas, 38% were those who believed that it should be continued with some changes.
After the Lok Sabha elections, the government has also announced some concessions for Agniveers. 10% reservation has been announced for Agniveers in paramilitary forces like BSF, CRPF, CISF. Apart from this, many state governments have also promised to give reservation to Agniveers in police recruitment.
Now that the government has announced a new scheme for pension, the committee is working on the legal guarantee of MSP. In such a situation, the question arises whether the Modi government can make some changes in the Agniveer scheme? So that the opposition cannot oppose it and make it an issue.
Two major changes are awaited
The major changes that are most expected in the Agniveer scheme include increasing the tenure of Agniveers and their possibility of being permanent in the army. It is believed that if the government increases the service tenure of Agniveers a little more than 4 years, then the opposition to this scheme may subside to some extent. There is also a view that if more Agniveers are made permanent in the army instead of 25% after retirement from service, then Agniveers will have more hope of getting a permanent job and they will reduce their opposition to it.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)