BJP, Opposition spar over UPS; ‘Latest pension scheme worse than NPS,’ says AAP

The decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi government to approve the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government employees has triggered another political storm with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress-led opposition trading barbs over the decision.

The standoff over the decision passed on August 23 is not over with the Congress claiming that the ‘U’ in UPS represents the Modi government’s ‘U-turns’. The BJP hit back at the opposition party asking why it has not implemented the promised decision. Old pension system (PAHO) in the states where it is in power.

Congress’s INDIA bloc partner, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has called UPS a “massive fraud” on the country’s employees as it would not cover paramilitary forces because “their service itself is not 25 years” – the qualifying criterion for availing the full UPS benefit.

The controversy comes days after a political row over UPSC’s announcement on “lateral entry” into the bureaucracy. The Modi government ordered the removal of the advertisement on August 21, three days after its publication, amid outrage from the opposition and some BJP allies.

The UPS guarantees a pension equivalent to 50 percent of the basic salary for those who joined the service after January 1, 2004, thus fulfilling a long-pending demand of public employees, according to the government. Employees opting for the UPS will be entitled to an assured pension after 25 years of service.

“The ‘U’ in UPS represents the change of direction of the Modi government. After June 4 (when the Lok Sabha election results were announced), the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of the Prime Minister’s power,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, taking a jibe at the Modi government.

“Budget rollback as far as long term capital gain/indexation is concerned. Waqf Bill sent to JPC. Broadcasting Bill rolled back. Side entry rolled back,” he said in a post on X.

Worse than NPS, says AAP

In a post on X, the Aam Aadmi Party “The unified pension system is worse than the new pension system. It is a huge fraud on the country’s employees. The country’s paramilitary forces have been excluded from this pension system. They will not be under its jurisdiction because their service will not last 25 years,” he said.

“What all the parties and opposition parties were saying has been proven correct. The opposition was raising the voice of the people. The central government itself suppressed all its employees. The way the central government employees voted against the BJP has brought some sense back, and I think they (BJP) will retract their other decisions like the Agniveer scheme very soon,” the AAP leader and minister in the Delhi government said. Saurabh Bharadwaj he told news agency ANI.

However, the BJP praised Prime Minister Modi “The Congress has made the old pension system a major issue in Indian politics over the last two years. So much so that the Congress even made Priyanka Gandhi Vadra announce during the Himachal Pradesh elections that the party would implement the old pension system in the state if it comes to power,” the senior party leader said. Ravi Shankar Prasad saying.

He criticised Congress president Kharge for his mocking ‘U-turn’ towards the Centre.

The Modi government does not take “ad hoc decisions”, the former Union minister said and asked Kharge to tell the nation why his party has taken a “U-turn” on its poll promise of implementing the erstwhile pension scheme in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana after coming to power in these states.

“Will this Congress just make announcements or will it also implement them? Congress in general and Rahul Gandhi in particular please tell the nation that they have implemented the old pension scheme as promised in Himachal Pradesh“, said.

The BJP leader accused Gandhi of misleading people by making false promises of votes and asked him to desist from such practice.

“We are proud of the Prime Minister Modify “He listened to and understood the concerns of the (central government) employees, set up a committee to look into it and a significant decision was taken. On behalf of the party, we congratulate the government, especially the prime minister for this,” he added.

Prasad said the Congress was “so tired of the palpable falsehood” of its assurance on the pension scheme that it could not muster the courage to include it in its Lok Sabha Elections manifest.