Haryana panel, staff group meet to talk OPS, no decision

Chandigarh: The first round of talks on the issue of old pension scheme (OPS) in Haryana — held between the delegates of Pension Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (PBSS) and a committee led by state chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal — remained inconclusive on FridayThe five-member delegation of PBSS, led by Vijender Dhariwal, and the state government’s committee met for over one hour. V Umashankar, principal secretary to CM, and Anurag Rastogi, ACS (finance), were in the state’s panel. The government committee offered to make amendments to the present pension scheme, or new pension scheme (NPS). Officers also sought suggestions from the delegates of PBSS. “Our main issue is the revival of old pension scheme. The new scheme is simply an investment scheme and no amendment can replace OPS. There is no such provision at all which could help NPS to replace OPS. Hence, things did not work out. Now, we shall have an all-India meeting on Sunday to take the final call,” said Dhariwal. On February 19, to press their demands for reviving OPS, several employees from across the state had staged a protest and made a foiled attempt to move towards Haryana CM residence in Chandigarh.The agitating employees were lathicharged. On February 21, the first round of talks was held between the delegates of PBSS and CM Manohar Lal Khattar. It was during this meeting that Khattar had formed the committee led by the chief secretary to have a dialogue with employees.Former CM and leader of opposition Bhupinder Hooda said the meeting as waste of time. “They don’t need to convene a meeting, but to take a decision. We have already announced to revive OPS after coming to power on the lines of Rajsthan and Himachal Pradesh,” he said.