Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday promised to restore the old pension scheme for Government employees if voted to power in Gujarat, amid a renewed focus on the issue in the recent State polls.
Gandhi said the old pension scheme (OPS) has been reintroduced in party-ruled states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and it will now be done in Gujarat too.
"By abolishing the old pension, the BJP has made the elderly dependent from self-reliant," he said in a tweet in Hindi. "The government employees who strengthen the country have a right: The old pension.
"We restored the old pension in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh. Now the Congress government will come in Gujarat and will bring the old pension," Gandhi also said, using the hashtag #CongressDegiOldPension.
Thousands of retired government employees in Gujarat recently held protests demanding the re-introduction of the scheme.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who announced the revival of the OPS in the budget speech in February, on Tuesday said that the scheme will be implemented in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh if the Congress forms government there.
Kejriwal, who is campaigning in Gujarat, said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has issued an order considering the implementation of the old pension scheme in the AAP-ruled state.
"Government employees in Gujarat have taken to the streets in large numbers. Their main demand is the implementation of the old pension scheme. I guarantee them that when AAP forms a government, we will implement the OPS in Gujarat," Kejriwal told reporters.
The old pension scheme was discontinued on April 1, 2004 and replaced by the National Pension Scheme (NPS).
Under the old scheme, the employee used to get the Dearness Allowance-linked pension. In this scheme, the pensioners used to get the benefit of enhanced pension every six months due to the periodic hike in dearness relief.