The Congress party's excitement over the launch of the Unified Pension Scheme, which they claim reverses the policies of the BJP-led government, has sparked fresh criticism from the BJP. BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the Congress party's commitment to fulfilling its election promises, particularly regarding the pension scheme.
"I would like to ask Rahul Gandhi - has his government implemented the Old Pension Scheme as promised in Himachal Pradesh?" asked Prasad, who previously served as a Union minister overseeing the law department.
"The Congress party is so conscious of the obvious untruths in its pension promises that it didn't even dare to include it in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections," Prasad remarked.
"Running a country like India is a serious thing. Congress party merely does announcements for votes, and now the public has no confidence in their promise," he further added.
Ravi Shankar Prasad further asked Rahul Gandhi, "Has your government in Himachal Pradesh implemented the Old Pension Scheme? During the Karnataka elections, you cleverly informed that it will be implemented for employees before 2006. Rahul Gandhi continues to mislead the public. He should follow through on his promises. If he cannot, he should refrain from making them."
Very few features of the pre-2004 Old Pension Scheme have been carried forward under the Unified Pension Scheme, which awards the lifelong monthly pension to the government employees at 50% of the last drawn basic pay.
In contrast, the New Pension Scheme, introduced by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2004, had pension benefits linked to contributions from the government and its employees. At the time, several opposition states opposed this scheme; five of them opted to stay with the Old Pension Scheme.
The Unified Pension Scheme to be introduced in April 2025 will be contributory. While staff will contribute 10 per cent from their salary, the government will contribute 18.5 percent with a possible increase in government contribution.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at the BJP earlier, saying, "U" in Unified Pension Scheme stands for "U-turn"—a label that is getting symbolic about the third term of BJP-led government.
