Haryana: Police use water cannons, tear gas shells to disperse govt employees demanding OPS, oppn condemns use of force

Haryana Police Use Water Cannons and Tear Gas to Disperse State Government Employees Demanding Restoration of Old Pension Scheme

The Haryana Police used water cannons, tear gas shells and baton charge to disperse a large group of state government employees who were holding a demonstration in Panchkula on Sunday. The protesters had gathered on the Panchkula-Chandigarh border to demand the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which was discontinued in the country from April 1, 2004.

The protesters, under the banner of the ‘Old Pension Scheme (OPS) Restoration Struggle Committee’, had planned to cross over into the Union Territory and march towards the Haryana chief minister’s residence to press for their demand. However, the police action prevented them from doing so.

A representative of the committee claimed that a few employees were injured during the police action. The committee’s state president, Vijender Dhariwal, said that the restoration of OPS is a legitimate demand and that the governments of Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have already restored it.

Opposition Congress condemned the police action and attacked the BJP-JJP coalition government in Haryana, saying that it wants to run the state with “sticks and bullets”. The Congress assured that if voted to power in the 2024 state assembly polls, it will restore OPS.

Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, said that the OPS will be implemented in the very first cabinet meeting “once the Congress government is formed” after next year’s state assembly polls.

The Haryana government has called the employees’ representatives for a meeting on Monday evening in Chandigarh – the joint capital of Haryana and Punjab. The pension amount is currently contributory under the National Pension System, which is in effect from April 1, 2004.

(Inputs from PTI)

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