The State government is committed to reintroducing the Old Pension Scheme for all government employees, Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar said in Belagavi on Sunday.
She was speaking at a State-level convention of Karnataka State Government Muslim Employees Association.
“One thing is certain. The New Pension Scheme will be cancelled and the Old Pension Scheme will be re-implemented for State government employees appointed after 2006,” she said in response to a demand from the employees.
“At a recent State government employees conference, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised that Old Pension Scheme will be implemented after the Seventh Pay Commission report comes. It needs to be seen whether it will be before the Lok Sabha polls or thereafter. But no one should have any doubt about this. We will keep our promise,” she said.
She urged government employees to work with commitment and integrity to see that the government earns a good reputation. “It is the employees who decide if a government gets a good or bad name. We may come up with many schemes, but how they are implemented in the field is decided by the employees. If you fail, we earn disrepute. You should work hard to ensure that the government gets the credit it is due,” she said.
She asked them to refrain from politics and work unitedly. “Let us take everyone into confidence and work together for everyone’s development,” the Minister said. She praised Speaker U.T. Khader and said that he is discharging his duties in a non-partisan manner.
MLA Asif (Raju) Sait, the former MLA Ferose Sait, North Karnataka Muslim United Forum president Imtiaz Ahmad Umarshekh, State honorary president Mohammad Pasha, Mirza Azmatullah, Yusuf Aslankhan, community leaders, women, office-bearers of State Government Muslim Employees Welfare Association, Bengaluru, and district unit leaders and others were present.
