Himachal Pradesh: Congress leader says govt will fulfil OPS and other promises, BJP MLA calls it a tough task

Former MLA and Congress leader Satpal Raizada on Saturday said that the Congress government is determined to implement the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in Himachal Pradesh.

He also affirmed that the scheme will not have any impact on the state from a financial point of view.

"I know my Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. He has a vision for the development of each section of society. I assure you that there will not be any impact on the financial conditions. When this pension was given earlier, was there any financial bankruptcy? You just need to have a vision of development," Satpal Raizada said.

"These are ideas of those people who want to support the capitalists. I assure you, our Chief Minister by consulting the financial experts shall implement the OPS. In less than one and half years, all the ten guarantees including Rs 1500 per month to women will be implemented," he added.

BJP legislator Reena Kashyap however said that implementing the OPS will be tough.

"OPS should be given but it is going to be tough. This was a big issue in the assembly elections and was on focus among the 'ten guarantees' in Congress's manifesto," she said.

"They also promised 1500 rupees to women but all of this is going to be tough," she added.

Under OPS, the pension of central and state government employees was fixed at 50 per cent of the last drawn basic pay, while under the new system of the New Pension Scheme, 10 per cent of the basic pay and dearness allowance will be contributed by the employee.

The new regime has come into force for those employees who came into service in 2004.

( With inputs from ANI )