Old Vs New Pension Scheme: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday clarified that the funds deposited towards National Pension Scheme (NPS) cannot be given to the state governments for the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
Addressing the post-Budget discussion at a hotel in Jaipur yesterday, Sitharaman said, as quoted by IANS, “If any state takes a decision for some reason that the funds of NPS can be collected from the Centre, then it will not be available.”
Worth mentioning here, the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) was made effective from April 1, 2022, in Rajasthan and since then the Congress-led state government has been demanding the release of funds transferred under the New Pension Scheme. Following the implementation of OPS in Rajasthan, the Congress government has also announced the old pension system in Himachal Pradesh.
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The Finance Minister said that it is the employee’s money and that money will come into the hands of the employee at the time of retirement or whenever it is required by the employee.
“The collected money will not come into the hands of the state government. When the right time comes, only then will this money be given to the employee,” Sitharama said as quoted by IANS.
Responding to a question on the free schemes facilitated by the state government, Sitharaman said, “When the financial condition of the government is good, (you) run such schemes. Make provision for them in your budget. If the financial condition of your state is not good, you are not making provisions in the budget, you are taking a loan for that. It is not right. Who will give this money?”
“That is why the Finance Secretary said that there is no free lunch,” she commented.
“To bring such schemes, the states should raise funds from their own resources and earn from taxes. For free schemes, the states are putting their burden on someone else… it is wrong,” she added.
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Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has recently announced a slew of fancy schemes, including free electricity to farmers, no new taxes, Rs 200 crore welfare funds, old pension scheme to personnel of various boards and corporations among others in the state Budget 2023-24.
“Congress leaders having a heart like stone have no right to accuse the Narendra Modi-led government. The Congress has no right to blame the Modi government as it stopped the water of Narmada to reach the people of Gujarat,” said the Union Finance Minister on the question of stopping the work of Barmer Petro Chemicals Hub on political grounds.
Taking a dig at CM Gehlot, Sitharaman said, “The Congress CM’s dictionary is the same and he politicises everything… I respect the CM.”
Targeting the finance minister over her remarks on the OPS, Gehtlot said: “I saw the remarks of Nirmala Sitharaman. She was not able to answer the question properly. Instead of giving unclear answers, she should have said clearly that they (Centre) are against OPS.”
“This is a matter of the future of the employees. We are not doing any favour on them. After 35 years of service, instead of having a secure future, should the employees be dependent on the share market?” he said while speaking about the new pension scheme.
