According to Hemant Kumar, a well-known economist from Gujarat, reinstating the old pension scheme would impose an annual burden of Rs 24,000 crore on the state government, which is approximately 8 per cent of the state's total budget. This significant financial strain is one of the main reasons why the government is dragging its feet over the old pension scheme.

The old pension scheme offers several benefits to employees, such as a secure investment in the government's GPF, a pension of 50 per cent of the last basic salary without any conditions, and a provision for converting 40 per cent of the pension into cash. Additionally, employees receive a pension for life, and their spouses continue to receive the pension after their death.

In contrast, the new pension scheme involves deductions from the employee's basic salary and dearness allowance, with investments made in equities in the stock market. This scheme does not guarantee a pension for life and does not provide a pension to the spouse after the employee's death. Employees are also required to pay income tax on NPS withdrawals.

In Gujarat, the new pension scheme was introduced on April 1, 2005, a year after the central government brought it into force. Sources in the General Administration Department said that, in the past, the government had offered jobs in various departments with a fixed salary for five years. Employees and officers who completed five years were made permanent and were included in the new pension scheme.

Those who had not completed five years were not included in the new scheme. Additionally, 68,435 other employees who completed five years between 2000 and 2005 were also not included in the old pension scheme, leading them to approach the High Court, where the case is pending.

More than 200,000 employees and officers, recruited over the past two decades, are included in the new pension scheme. Furthermore, the issue of including employees working in various government departments on an outsourcing or contract basis in the new pension scheme has not been addressed yet.

Despite promises made by the government to reinstate the old pension scheme, no concrete actions have been taken. Manoj Patel, General Secretary of the Gujarat State Municipal Primary Education Association, states, "The government assured us that they would implement the old pension scheme, but it was never executed."

The central government is now considering a solution to address the opposition against the new pension scheme. During her budget speech last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament that the committee reviewing the NPS has made significant progress in its work.

She expressed her pleasure that the National Council of the Joint Consultative Machinery for central government employees has also adopted a constructive approach. While maintaining financial prudence for the security of the general public, a reconciliatory solution will be found, taking related issues into consideration.