Mumbai: CM Shinde Says Government “Positive” About Old Pension Scheme
Mumbai, 21st March 2023: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured on Monday that the government is positive about the old pension scheme and other demands of government employees and appropriate decisions will be taken after the report of the committee of retired senior chartered officers. After that, the strike that was going on for the last week was finally called off. The unions have appealed to the employees to report to work regularly from Tuesday.
The Chief Minister held a meeting with the employee unions at Vidhan Bhavan on Monday afternoon to find a solution to the ongoing strike since last Tuesday. To study the issue of the pension scheme, the government appointed retired senior chartered officers Subodh Kumar, Sudhir Srivastava, and K. P. Bakshi committee has been appointed. The committee has been given three months to submit its report. Shinde said in the legislature that after receiving the report of the committee at the earliest, an appropriate decision will be taken. The unions claimed after the meeting that the Chief Minister was positive to implement the old pension scheme with retrospective effect. After that, Vishwas Katkar, the convenor of the staff union coordination committee, announced that the strike that had been going on since last Tuesday was called off.
Panchnama and other works of the damage caused by unseasonal rain in the state are pending and those works will be completed on priority. The coordination committee has also clarified. We have accepted the principle that employees should have social security after retirement, said the Chief Minister. The committee appointed to decide the draft of the pension scheme has been given three months. Deputy Chief Minister said that a decision will be taken after proper consideration of the report of the committee, Devendra Fadnavis explained.
As the government, semi-government, Zilla Parishad, and municipal employees of the state went on strike on 14th March, most government systems, including health, revenue, and regional transport offices have collapsed, and the people are suffering. The patients admitted to the hospital suffered a lot. The work in the revenue department’s offices, including document registration and the seven-day shift, was blocked. There was a possibility that the 10th and 12th results would be delayed as the Zilla Parishad, teachers, and other organizations joined the strike along with the state government central organization. The Panchnama work of damage caused by unseasonal rain was also stalled. The State Gazetted Officers Union had given the notice to join the strike on 28th March.
If the old pension scheme is implemented, the burden of fixed expenditure (committed expenditure) like salary, pension and interest payments will increase to 83 per cent of the revenue, and there will be no funds for development work. Therefore, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis explained in the legislature that it is difficult to implement the old pension scheme.
The government employees called a strike last Tuesday. No concrete assurance has been given by the government to implement the old pension scheme.
In this regard, the government has promised to take a proper decision after the meeting of the three-member committee of retired chartered officers appointed.
“On the first day of the strike, the proposal to appoint a committee was rejected by the employee unions. Therefore, it is being questioned what exactly the employee unions achieved by calling the strike. Considering the challenges facing the state, I welcome this decision taken sensitively by the state government and semi-government employees. We have accepted the principle that employees should have social security after retirement. An appropriate decision will be taken after the report of the three-member committee,” said Eknath Shinde.
