Why govt employees will go on nationwide indefinite strike from May 1

The central and state government employees, including the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), Indian Railways and defence ordnance, among others have decided to go on an indefinite strike from May 1 to press for their long-standing demand for the restoration of the old pension scheme.

Here is an explainer on what are the issues involved and why the government employees are not happy.

What is old pension scheme?

The old pension scheme is kind of a fixed pension benefit plan for government employees across sectors. Under this scheme, all employees, who have completed 10 years of government service, are entitled to a monthly pension equivalent to the last salary drawn. The government does not deduct any sum of money from their salaries during their service period under this head.

Under this scheme, the employees after their retirement also receive a dearness allowance (DA), which is revised periodically, and added to their pension.

What is NPS?

The BJP-led central government scrapped the old pension scheme in 2004 and replaced it with the new pension scheme (NPS), which is contributory in nature.

Under the NPS, the employees contribute 10 per cent of their basic salary and DA, while the government adds 14 per cent to the corpus. Initially, it was meant for government employees but it was thrown open for private sector employees as well in 2009 when the Congress-led UPA government set up the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority to manage the NPS.

What do employees want?

The employees have been on a warpath since the introduction of the NPS, which they think has taken away their social security umbrella. They want the Centre to scrap the NPS and restore the old pension scheme.

There have been public interest litigations (PILs) on the issue, which did not find favour with the Supreme Court.

Even though the Centre scrapped the old pension scheme, several state governments extended old pension schemed benefits to their employees. For instance, the Congress-led government in Himachal Pradesh decided to extend the old pension scheme benefits to its employees in April 2023 after coming to power.

Who is spearheading the movement?

The government employees have been fighting for the restoration of the old pension scheme ever since it was implemented in 2004. However, the Centre has turned a Nelson’s eye to the growing resentment against the NPS and the demand for the restoration of the old pension scheme.

The Joint Forum for Restoration of Old Pension Scheme (JFROPS), an umbrella organisation of various trade unions of central and state government employees, Railways, teachers and banks, among others, has been spearheading the movement.

Since the Centre has not responded to their demand, they have decided to go on an indefinite strike on May Day.

The strike may bring life to a standstill.