IEP Chandigarh, September 19
In a major relief to the Lakhs of employees of the state government, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced that the state government is considering to revert to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Divulging more details, the Chief Minister said that he has asked the Chief Secretary of the state to explore the feasibility and modalities of implementation of the scheme that is likely to give major relief to the employees of the state. Reiterating the firm commitment of his government to ensure well being of the employees, Bhagwant Mann said that no stone will be left unturned for this noble cause. He said that employees are the backbone of the government and every effort will be made to ensure their welfare. The Chief Minister said that his government had already taken several path breaking pro-employees initiatives in last few months. He said that his government has introduced policy for the regularisation of the contractual employees in the state. Likewise, Bhagwant Mann said that his government has also embarked a major recruitment drive in government so that youth can get jobs on one hand and performance of departments can be optimised by overcoming shortage of staff on the other. Pertinently, the Old Pension Scheme for employees was discontinued in year 2004 and ever since then the employees are being given New Pension Scheme. However the employees have been since long demanding the restoration of Old Pension Scheme.
