Restore old pension scheme before we launch agitation, employees warn state govt.

HYDERABAD: State government employees covered under Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) are set to embark on agitation programmes if there is no
positive response from the state government to their demand of scrapping CPS and bringing back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Out of a total 3.50 lakh government employees and teachers in Telangana, about 1.70 lakh appointed after 2004 are covered under CPS.

The demand to scrap CPS has been gaining momentum after Punjab became the fourth state to scrap CPS and revert to OPS. Earlier, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand had abolished CPS and restored OPS.

CPS employees working in various departments joined hands to form Telangana State CPS Employees Union (TSCPSEU) to bring pressure on the state government to revert to OPS. This union is also playing a key role in the national movement against CPS in all the states.

"The Congress and AAP have promised to revert to OPS if they are voted to power. As promised, the Congress governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and the AAP government in Punjab have abolished CPS. We are confident that the TRS government in Telangana headed by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will also scrap CPS and revert to OPS soon," said G. Sthitaprajna, president of TSCPSEU.

Sthitaprajna, who is also the national secretary general for National Movement for OPS, said they will soon submit representations to Rao and ministers to press for acting on their demand. "If there is no positive response from the government, we will be forced to launch agitations," he cautioned.