Central and state government employees in Assam staged protests on Saturday, demanding the reinstatement of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), while rejecting both the National Pension System (NPS) and the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).

The UPS was notified on January 24 for implementation from April 1 this year.

There are about 3.5 lakh state government employees and 1.5 lakh Central government employees in the state.

Describing the protest as a “black day”, the employees wore black badges and staged an hour-long protest from 12 noon in front of their offices and institutes for the restoration of the OPS.

The protesters held placards that read “Roll Back NPS, Give Back OPS”, “Scrap NPS, restore OPS” and “One Nation, One Pension” to convey their demands to the authorities.

President of the All Assam Govt NPS Employees’ Association, Achyutananda Hazarika, said that they are firm on their demand for the OPS and continue to protest till their demand is met. The association has announced to intensify their protest from March.

“We just want security and dignity post-retirement but we will not accept the UPS or the NPS because they do not answer our concern. Both are market-linked and uncertain. Under the OPS, there is guaranteed pension,” Hazarika said.

The NPS came into effect on January 1, 2004, for Central government employees but consistent objection resulted in the UPS, which too is now being protested. The employees can choose one of the two and can not change their decision later.

In a statement issued after the protest, the association quoted the Supreme Court saying: “Pension is not a bounty nor a matter of grace depending upon the sweet will of the employer, and it creates a vested right subject to 1972 rules, which are statutory in character, because they were enacted in exercise of powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 and clause 5 of Article 148 of the Constitution, i) that pension is not an ex-gratia payment, but it is a payment for the past service rendered....”

The statement further said: “There is no need to explain that the National Pension System (NPS) is a deprivation and a system of money supply to the capitalists.”

“It was expected that the government will show their responsibility by providing assured and financial security to the pensioners in the Unified Pension System, which was announced on August 28, 2024. Unfortunately, the notification shows a different scenario.”

“On one hand, the UPS is purely a market-linked system like the NPS; on the other hand, it includes difficulties such as no option for return of 10% employee contribution, no death-cum-retirement gratuity (DCRG), illogical family pension, and absence of revision as per Pay Commission, etc,” it added.

“Only the victims can understand how those who were receiving a monthly salary of ₹50,000 to ₹2,00,000 till the day before their retirement have suddenly received a pension of ₹1,000 or ₹2,000 each,” the association said while trying to flag the “less and uncertain pension amount”.

“The exposure to market under UPS and OPS makes these uncertain and also there is no gratuity pay like the OPS, points which are making the employees jittery about their future,” Hazarika said.