Mysore/Mysuru: JD(S) MLC Marithibbegowda has written to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa urging the Government to re-introduce the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for Government employees.

In his letter written on Wednesday, Marithibbegowda said that following a protest by Government employees in front of Belagavi’s Suvarna Soudha in 2018 demanding re-introduction of OPS, the then Government had formed a Committee of officials to look into the matter. 

The Committee, apart from holding a meeting on June 20, 2019, has not done anything in this regard, he said.

Pointing out that there are 7,41,048 Government employees, with 5,12,521 of them covered under OPS and the rest 2,28,527 under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), he said that the Union Government too has said that State Governments are free to take their own decision regarding employee pension schemes. 

As such, the Chief Minister should keep the promise he made to the protesting  employees, when he was the Opposition Leader in 2018, by initiating measures for re-introducing OPS covering all employees, the letter said.