Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, confirmed to the Legislative Assembly that a decision to reinstate the Old Pension Scheme for teaching and non-teaching staff members in semi-government and aided institutions will be made within three months. The commitment was announced during Monday’s question hour, in response to concerns aired by Assembly members Sanjay Kelkar, Balasaheb Thorat, and Ashish Shelar.
Pawar underlined that the relief will only be granted to staff members who joined after the November 1, 2005 notification. The government recently decided to offer the Old Pension Scheme to employees who joined prior to this notification, based on the provisions of the Maharashtra Civil Services Retirement Rules 1982, the Maharashtra Civil Services Retirement Pension Scheme 1984, and the General Provident Fund Rules. Due to continuing legal actions, this ruling did not apply to semi-government and assisted institutions’ teaching and non-teaching staff.
Pawar went on to say that on April 30, 2019, the Bombay High Court ruled in favour of government-recognised and subsidised educational institutes receiving a 100 per cent subsidy. Teachers’ associations have appealed this decision in the Supreme Court. Pawar guaranteed that whenever the Supreme Court makes its ruling, the state government will execute it properly.
Economic concerns drove the Central Government’s decision to phase down the Old Pension Scheme and replace it with a new one. This action has generated demands from different state government officials and employees to reinstate the Old Pension Scheme. In response, the Central government has positively responded to these demands, and some state governments have requested further information from the Centre on the subject.
To address these issues, the Maharashtra state government established a council of retired officials to better understand employee expectations. During the Nagpur winter session, discussions with government officials and employee associations took place, and demands for information on the state government’s position on the Old Pension Scheme were made. Pawar emphasised that the present administration is pro-employee and dedicated to delivering justice for the impacted employees, saying, “Proper justice will be given in this matter.”
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