The Newz Radar
DHARAMSHALA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu landed in Dharamshala around 1 pm on Sunday (May 28, 2023) for the ‘OPS Aabhar Rally’, being organised by various employee unions to thank the Congress-led state government for restoring the old pension scheme.
After landing in Dharamshala, CM Sukhu headed to the Circuit House where he freshened up. From the Circuit House, he was scheduled to head towards Hanuman Chowk from where he was to lead a roadshow to Police Grounds, the venue of the rally.
CM Sukhu’s helicopter landed at the Sai ground in Dharamshala from Delhi where he stayed overnight after attending the NITI Aayog governing council meeting on Saturday. The Chief Minister was scheduled to depart from Dehli to Dharamshala at 10.30 am and his was to land at Sai ground an hour later. However, the helicopter flight was delayed and he took off after 11.30 am.
The restoration of OPS was a long pending demand of Himachal government employees and the Congress had, in its manifesto, promised to fulfil it in the first cabinet meeting if voted to power in the recent Assembly elections. The promise is said to be one of the main factors for the Congress victory as it only managed a less than 1 per cent higher vote share than the opposition BJP.
At the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi, the Chief Minister asked the Centre to return to Himachal the New Pension Scheme share of government employee, deposited since around 2004 when the old pension scheme was discontinued. The amount is over Rs 9,000 crore.
The Himachal government, meanwhile, has also included the employees of Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation and the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board under the ambit of the old pension scheme.
