Senior Congress functionary speaks out against Old Pension Scheme

Photo used for illustration purpose only.

In the middle of the Gujarat Assembly election campaign, where the Congress has promised government employees to bring back the old pension scheme (OPS), a senior party functionary has questioned the move.

Praveen Chakravarty, who heads the Data Analytics department of the Congress, took to Twitter to air his differences.

“Out of 6.5 crore (65 mn) people in Gujarat, about 3 lakh (300k) are in govt service. The old pension scheme will cost roughly 15% of tax revenues. Why should the top 0.5% of people get 15% of all taxpayers’ money as post-retirement pension? @APanagariya is right to question,” tweeted Mr. Chakravarty.

He also shared a screenshot of a recent interview of former vice chairman NITI Ayog Arvind Panagariya, in which the noted economist said that it was “sinful” to revert back to the OPS.

Mr. Chakravarty’s tweet reflected a divide within the Congress over the pension scheme promise. In the recently concluded Assembly elections of Himachal Pradesh, reverting back to OPS was the main poll plank of the Congress party.

Congress’ main campaigner Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in her rallies, had promised to revert back to OPS if the party came to power in the hill State.

While former party chief Rahul Gandhi too had tweeted in favour of OPS in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh had already announced their decision to revert back to the old scheme for retirement benefits last year.

However, with voices against the OPS coming from within the Congress, the BJP is likely to use it to their advantage in Gujarat.