Rajasthan - Tension Over Pension

On February 23, when Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot tabled his fourth budget, it sent ripples across India.

- Rohit Parihar

Social welfare was the big focus, and a major announcement was that the Congress-ruled Rajasthan government will skip the National Pension System (NPS) and revert to the old pension scheme for its staff. At a time when the demand for reverting to the old pension schemes has been growing in many states, Gehlot’s declaration is clearly aimed at wooing voters in the next election due in December 2023.

In Uttar Pradesh, where elections are being held, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have already promised that they will revive the old pension system. The chorus has begun in other states too, led by the Congress. Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has demanded the state government do the same. The Madhya Pradesh Congress also echoed the same demand.

In Karnataka, even members of the ruling BJP want the state to revert as “the NPS has failed to deliver the perceived benefits”. Much before Gehlot’s announcement, back in 2018, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had promised to go back to the old system. In Himachal, state government employees took out a nine-day padayatra that culminated in Shimla on March 3 demanding a return to the old scheme.