The State Cabinet on Thursday took a very important decision to give option to the old pension scheme to the officers and employees who were appointed in the service of the Government on or after November 1, 2005. Of course, the decision of which plan to accept has to be taken by the officers and employees. However, state employees and officers unions have welcomed the decision saying it is a positive step taken by the government towards meeting the demand for implementation of the old retirement scheme.
The New National Pension Scheme was implemented for officers, employees appointed on or after November 1, 2005. But there is no certainty about how much pension will be received after retirement. Therefore, this year, the employees and teachers unions called for strike twice to demand that this scheme should be cancelled and the old scheme should be applied to all the employees.
Taking cognizance of this, the state government had constituted a committee of three former chartered officers to study the new and old pension scheme and recommend it to the government. The committee submitted its report to the government in November. As promised by the government, it has been decided to give option to the old pension scheme to the officers-employees selected on or after November 1, 2005 through the recruitment process in the first phase.
General Secretary of State Government Employees Central Association Vishwas Katkar, Leader of Maharashtra State Government Officials Federation G.D. Kulthe, President Vinod Desai, General Secretary Sameer Bhatkar have welcomed. Katkar informed that about 26 thousand government officials, employees, teachers and non-teaching staff will benefit from this decision.
Six months period for selection
The provisions of the General Provident Fund and Subsidiary Rules will be applicable to the officers and employees who have been given the option of the old pension scheme.
It will be mandatory for the concerned officers and employees to make selection within 6 months after the release of the government decision. For those who do not opt out of the old pension scheme, the new defined contribution pension scheme will continue to apply. Provident fund accounts of the old scheme acceptors will be opened and the amount of their contribution in the new defined contribution pension account will be deposited in that account along with interest.
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