Congress, BJP fight over UPS; AAP calls it 'worse' than NPS

New Delhi: The Congress Sunday said the 'U' in the newly announced Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) stands for the Modi government's "U-turns", while the BJP hit back at the opposition party asking why it has not implemented the promised Old Pension Scheme in states where it is in power.

The Congress' INDIA bloc partner Aam Aadmi Party said the UPS is a "massive fraud" on employees in the country as it would not cover the paramilitary forces because "their service itself is not for 25 years", the qualifying criteria to avail of the full benefit under the UPS.

The Union Cabinet on Saturday approved the UPS, announcing an assured pension of 50 per cent of the basic salary for those who joined the service after January 1, 2004, fulfilling a long-pending demand of government employees. Employees opting for the UPS would be eligible for an assured pension after service of 25 years.

Taking a dig at the government, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The 'U' in UPS stands for Modi Govt's U turns! Post June 4 (when the Lok Sabha poll results were announced), the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of power of the Prime Minister."

"Rollback in the budget regarding Long Term Capital Gain/Indexation. Sending Waqf Bill to JPC. Rollback of Broadcast Bill. Rollback of Lateral Entry," he said in a post on X.

"We will keep ensuring accountability and protect 140 crore Indians from this despotic government," the Congress chief said.

The Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera alleged that the UPS appears to be an attack on Dalits, tribals and backward classes.

"In many states, the upper age limit for government jobs for reserved category is 40 years. In UPSC, this limit is 37 years. Under the unified pension scheme, it is mandatory to render 25 years of service to get a full pension," Khera said.

In such a situation, how will Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes employees avail this facility, he asked.

"Now the government should tell whether it wants to end the upper age limit facility available to the underprivileged or wants to deprive them of full pension?" Khera said on X.

However, Professionals' Congress chairman Praveen Chakravarty appeared to strike a divergent note from his party and said the introduction of the scheme was "welcome and prudent".

"Pension for govt staff in India is inherently a tax on the majority poor to pay the elite minority. So, OPS was reformed to NPS in 2013. But NPS did not assure a minimum amount for retired families," Chakravarty said in a post on X.

"Now, UPS does that UPS = NPS + Minimum guarantee. This is prudent & welcome," he said.

Though Chakravarty's X account is not verified, several top Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, follow it.

In a post on X, the AAP said, "Unified Pension Scheme is worse than the New Pension Scheme. This is a big fraud on the employees in the country. Paramilitary forces of the country have been excluded from this pension scheme. They will not come under this purview their service itself is not for 25 years." The BJP, meanwhile, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing the UPS.

"The Congress has made the old pension scheme a massive issue in Indian politics over the last two years. So much so that the Congress made even Priyanka Gandhi Vadra announce during elections in Himachal Pradesh that the party will implement the old pension scheme in the state if voted to power," senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told a press conference at BJP headquarters here.

He slammed Congress president Kharge for his "U-turn" jibe at 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 old pension scheme in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana after coming to power in these states.

"Will this Congress only make announcements or implement them as well? The Congress in general and Rahul Gandhi in particular, please tell the nation did you implement the old pension scheme as promised in Himachal Pradesh," he said.

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

"We are proud of Prime Minister Modi that he listened to and understood the concerns of the (central government) employees, set up a committee to look into that, and a meaningful decision was made. On behalf of the party, we greet the government, especially the prime minister for this," he added.

Prasad said the Congress had become "so weary of the palpable falsehood" of its assurance about the pension scheme that it could not muster the courage to include it in its Lok Sabha poll manifesto.