The proposed three-day strike by Uttar Pradesh state employees and teachers from October 25 to press for restoration of old pension and roll back of the new pension scheme has been called off.
The state employees' leaders, however, maintained that the strike has been deferred till December 24 as the government has set up a committee to look into the matter and has asked it to submit its report within the next two months.
The state employees' leaders said that if their demands were not addressed by December 24, they would proceed on indefinite strike without serving notice on the state government.
The decision to call off the strike was taken by the leaders of the agitating state employees and teachers after a fruitful meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday morning.
The Chief Minister called the meeting here on Wednesday morning after the talks between the officials and the state employees leaders failed on Tuesday evening.
Purani Pension Bahali Manch chairman Harikishore Tiwari said here on Wednesday that the government had been given two months' time, till December 24, to take a decision on their demand.
After the talks between the Chief Minister and the state employees' leaders, Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey announced the constitution of an 8-member committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary Mukul Singhal to look into the matter. The other members of the committee include a representative of the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA), Additional Chief Secretary (Planning), Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), Principal Secretary (Law), Director Pension, and two representatives of the state employees -- Dinesh Chandra Sharma (president of UP Primary Teachers' Association) and Hari Kishore Tewari (president of UP State Employees, Teachers' Joint Council). The committee will submit its report within two months.
After the meeting with the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary, the employees' leader held a meeting and announced that the strike call had been withdrawn. They said the talks with the Chief Minister were fruitful.
The 15 lakh state employees and teachers are demanding rollback of the pension scheme in place for 13 years. The new pension scheme was implemented in UP on April 1, 2005. The Central government had implemented it from January 1, 2004.
The state employees had organised a rally here on October 8 in which close to two lakh employees and teachers had participated. The state government, alarmed by the huge turnout at the rally, had invited the employees' leaders for talks and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and the Chief Secretary had assured them to look into the demands and address the grievances of the state employees and teachers.
"Under the old pension scheme, the post-retirement benefits are given as per the UP Pension Rules, 1961 but under the new pension scheme, everyone, from class four employees to top officers, is clueless about the post retirement benefits," said Tewari.
He said that under the new pension scheme, each employee's pension would be invested in the stock market, a proposal which the employees were against.
"It has been 13 years since this new scheme was implemented but neither has our money been transferred into our accounts nor has it been invested anywhere. We have no faith in this new system and we will settle for nothing less than the restoration of the old pension scheme," he said.