In the meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, labor organizations have demanded the formation of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), 8th Pay Commission and increase in tax exemption in the full budget. Apart from this, labor organizations have also demanded to stop the privatization of government companies and stop the New Pension Scheme (NPS).

In the memorandum given by the labour organisations in the meeting held with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, it has been said that a social security fund should be set up by the government for the workers of the unorganised and agricultural sector, so that they can get a minimum pension of Rs 9,000 per month and other medical, educational benefits etc.

Also Read: New Traffic Rule: Smart traffic system will start on this expressway from July 1, Know the specialty

They have demanded that all the existing vacancies in the central government departments and government companies should be filled. Apart from this, the practice of contract and outsourcing should be stopped.

Budget: GST should be removed from food items and medicines

The workers’ organizations further said that instead of burdening the general public through GST on essential food items and medicines, corporate tax, increase in property tax and inheritance tax should be implemented. Representatives of 12 workers’ organizations including INTUC, AITUC, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC and UTUC participated in the meeting. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) separately submitted a memorandum with its demand.

They demanded to increase the scope of MNREGA and guarantee 200 days of work to every family. It has also been said to link the work of agriculture and allied sectors with MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). The workers’ organization has also demanded to increase the criteria of Ayushman Bharat Yojana from Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs three lakh.

The post Labor organizations demanded the government to implement OPS, and also get tax exemption first appeared on Rightsofemployees.com.

Organizations not involved in the online meeting

The joint platform of ten labor organizations in an e-mail sent to the Finance Ministry on Monday put forward their demands regarding the next budget. However, these organizations did not attend the online meeting called for pre-budget discussions.

Pension scheme is based on contribution

National Pension System (NPS) was implemented from January 2004 by abolishing OPS during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. NPS is a contribution based pension scheme and there is no provision for dearness allowance. After increasing complaints of employees getting less amount of pension under NPS, labor organizations have intensified their demands for re-implementation of OPS itself.

Meanwhile, some states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Punjab have announced re-implementation of OPS for their government employees.

Organizations want to have face-to-face meeting

Forum of labor organizations said, ‘Government should re-implement the old pension system instead of NPS by giving contribution on its behalf.’ These organizations did not participate in the online meeting, demanding a face-to-face meeting with the Finance Minister. Each organization was given three minutes to present their demands related to their area.

Demand to increase the minimum pension amount , however, SP Tiwari, general secretary of the Trade Union Coordination Center (TUCC), who attended the pre-budget consultation meeting, also said that in the meeting there was a demand for restoration of OPS instead of NPS. Along with this, a demand was also made to increase the amount of minimum pension from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000.

Demand for increase in mental honorarium

Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) said that apart from increasing the amount of minimum pension, it should also be linked with dearness allowance, so that the needs of the pensioners can be met. BMS also demanded the government to allocate more funds to the unorganized sectors. Apart from this, there has also been a demand to increase the monthly honorarium to the workers associated with Anganwadi, Asha and mid-day meal schemes.

The post Big update regarding Old Pension Scheme, labor organizations refused online meeting first appeared on Rightsofemployees.com.