On Wednesday, the Congress said it was his personal view, not one he should have aired publicly, after Praveen Chakravarty, the head of the Congress’s data analytics department, expressed doubts about the feasibility of restoring the old pension scheme (OPS) in Gujarat, a poll promise of the party.
In Gujarat, there is approximately 3 lakh (300 thousand) government employees out of 6.5 crores (65 million). About 15% of tax revenues will be devoted to the old pension plan. What is the reason for offering 15% of all taxpayers’ money to the top 0.5% of the population as a post-retirement pension? In a tweet, Chakravarty stated that Panagariya was right to question.
Earlier this week, Panagariya, the former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, gave an interview with The Deccan Era in which he described reviving the OPS as a “sinful” and “immoral ” poll promise.” He indicated that these measures would result in significant financial burdens for the government in the future.
Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate responded to Chakravarty’s remarks at a press conference by saying: “I do not think there is any contradiction, I think this might have been his personal view that should not have been aired publicly, but I believe that the OPS should still be brought back.”
As a result of the strong demand from the people, Congress governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have restored the OPS.
In Himachal, approximately 3 lakh government employees are seeking OPS. In other words, the governments of the day, the politicians of the day, or the political outfits of the day must respond to the needs of the people. As a result of the severe economic collapse we are experiencing, there is a great deal of demand. Since the scheme no longer assures people of their income, they wish to bring it back. A dynamic political party must respond to the needs and demands of the people,” she stated.
Moreover, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, agreed that a party colleague Mohan Kumaramangalam wrote on Twitter that there were no divisions within the party regarding this issue and that it was simply the expression of a personal viewpoint by an individual who is neither a spokesperson, the president, or a senior leader within the Congress party. His post quoted Ramesh as saying, “I entirely agree.”
