Various public services were badly affected on Thursday, as more than 17 lakh Maharashtra Government employees went on a day-long strike to press for   Old Pension Scheme (OPS), and 17 other demands.

Thursday was the second occasion in the last nine months when lakhs of  employees owing allegiance to the Maharashtra State Government Employees Association (MSGEA) struck work across the state, to demand OPS and press for other pending demands.

The agitation, which covered all government departments, including schools, colleges, hospitals -- from the block to the state level, affected public services at many places.

It may be recalled that chief minister Eknath Shinde had had appointed a committee to study the OPS and the New Pension Scheme. The committee, comprising top former bureaucrats Subodh Kumar, K. P. Bakshi and Sudhir Kumar, had recently submitted its report to the state government.

As part of the day-long strike, the government employees had taken out a massive procession in Nagpur during the past two days, an agitation that coincided with the ongoing winter session of the State Legislature..

The agitating government employees also organised demonstrations and protests in different parts of the state today, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, Raigad, Pune and other places.

Earlier this week, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the Finance portfolio, said that the government would study the committee report and consider the employees’ OPS demand positively before the 2024 state Assembly polls

Pawar also assured the agitating employees that the state government would take a decision on OPS ahead of the forthcoming budget session of the state legislature to be held in Mumbai in the first quarter of 2024.On his part, deputy chief Devendra Fadnavis has also handed out similar assurance to the agitating state employees

Both the deputy chief minister said that the state government would study the financial implications of the OPS and take a decision in the matter.