Speaking on the possibilities of reintroducing the old pension scheme, the Karnataka CM announced that his government will constitute a committee to submit a report on the same.
After the announcement of Karnataka government passing interim order, declaring the pay hike to state government employees from April 1, the Karnataka government employees announced the withdrawal of protest and that they shall return back to their duties.
Committee Constituted to Explore Possibilities of Reintroducing OPS
The Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai said that his government will constitute a committee to submit a report on the possibilities of reintroducing the Old Pension Scheme(OPS).
The CM announced that “We will provide 17% hike to all government employees in the state and orders regarding the same are already issued. The 7th pay commission has already been appointed and I already discussed it with the employee associations”.
The main concerns and demands that were raised by the protesting employees were the revision of salaries, implementation of the 7th pay commission report and reintroduction of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
CM Asks Employees to End Protest & Get Back to Duties
The CM said that “We will constitute a special committee under additional chief secretary, and it will submit a detailed study on the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and how other state governments are implementing it. Within two months, the committee will submit the report and even that issue will be resolved. I request the employees to end the protest and get back to their duties”.
Apart from the essential services, the government services in Karnataka were stalled due to the fact that over 80,000 employees reportedly extended their support to the protest which began on Wednesday.
As per some employee associations, employees worked really hard during the pandemic and few even lost their lives.