Maha Cabinet clears OPS for state employees who joined after Nov 2005

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The Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday cleared a proposal that offers an option of availing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to the state government employees who joined the service after November 2005.

The decision comes days after the government as well as semi-government employees and officials went on a strike to press for their demand of restoring the OPS. The cabinet gave its nod to the proposal that offers an option of the OPS to the state employees who joined the service post-November 2005, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Talking to PTI, Vishwas Katkar, general secretary of the Maharashtra state employees' confederation, said, "The cabinet's decision will benefit some 26,000 state government employees who were selected before November 2005 but received joining letters later. This decision will benefit only these 26,000 state employees."

There are as many as 9.5 lakh state employees who joined the service before November 2005 and they already enjoy the benefits of the OPS. Under the OPS, a government employee gets a monthly pension equivalent to 50 per cent his/her last drawn salary. There was no need for contribution by employees. The OPS was discontinued in the state in 2005.

Under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), a state government employee contributes 10 per cent of his/her basic salary plus dearness allowance with the state making a matching contribution. The money is then invested in one of the several pension funds approved by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and the returns are market-linked. The state cabinet also cleared a proposal to charge Rs 250 as toll amount for cars for using the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), the country's longest sea bridge that connects Sewri in Mumbai to Nhava Sheva in neighbouring Raigad district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the MTHL on January 12. The 21.8-kilometre long bridge will bring down the journey from the current two hours to around 15-20 minutes. The cabinet gave its nod to the proposal to issue Rs 5 per litre subsidy to the milk producers in the state. The decision was announced in the winter session of the state legislature held last month. In another proposal okayed by the cabinet, the clerks-typists working in the Mantralaya will be given a monthly allowance of Rs 5,000 over and above their current remuneration, the CMO said.