After poll losses, Shinde says govt ‘very positive’ on OPS

MUMBAI: After facing a setback in the recent Legislative Council polls in the teacher’s constituency where the demand for the old pension scheme (OPS) had become an issue, the Shinde government is going out of its way to say that the matter is still on their agenda.

“We will sit with the education department’s committee on the old pension scheme and find a via media. The government is very positive about it,” chief minister Eknath Shinde said at a rally in Konkan on Friday.

“There are technical, legal and financial issues involved. Any decision taken should be for the long run and should be in the interests of both the teachers and the state,” Shine said.

Meanwhile, five states governed by parties other than BJP have gone back to the old pension scheme. This was confirmed earlier this month in a reply in the Lok Sabha by Union junior finance minister Bhagwat Karad.

Three of these states — Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal — are governed by Congress, while Jharkhand has a JMM government and AAP is in office in Punjab. The Centre is against a return to the OPS, although several Congress-governed states have been at the forefront of implementing OPS.

In the winter session of the state legislature in December 2022, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said he was not in favour of reverting to the OPS because it would impose a financial burden of 1.1 lakh crore on the state exchequer.

However, in January while campaigning for the Legislative Council elections, Fadnavis changed his stance.