Piqued over the denial of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and calling it an “act of deceit” by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government in Andhra Pradesh, a section of employees and teachers working in the government sector is gearing up to launch a concerted and sustained ‘political campaign’ to take their fight to a logical end.
Leaders of employees’ associations and teachers’ unions are regrouping to evolve a plan of action to achieve their goals. “We will reach out to the people at the grassroots level, like we did in 2016 to build our movement against the injustice meted out to us. People will once again witness massive State-wide campaigns,” said associate president of Andhra Pradesh CPS (Contributory Pension Scheme) Employees Association (APCPSEA) C. Maria Das.
The State government has implemented the contentious Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) despite persistent demands for the restoration of the OPS. In response to intensified agitations by its employees and teachers, the government then formulated Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) and offered it as an alternative to the OPS and CPS.
Despite a series of protests against the GPS, the Bill was passed in the Assembly and Governor S. Abdul Nazeer ratified it recently.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Das said the employees’ movement dissipated due to the “act of deceit by the State government”. “We need to come together, restrategise our plan of action and start afresh,” he said.
Mr. Das said that the employees would effectively counter the government’s ‘Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam’, a mass-contact programme designed by the ruling party to promote welfare programmes, with an extensive campaign titled ‘Gadapa Gadapaku Jagananna Mosam’.
“We will tell the people how Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has betrayed the employees and teachers who rallied behind him believing his promise to implement the Old Pension Scheme if he was voted to power,” said Mr. Das, adding that the employee representatives would speak to the leaders of the Opposition parties to explain their stand on the issue.
He said the State executive of the association will meet on November 5 and a plan of action would be drawn on how to take forward the proposed campaign in the most effective way. “We will organise Atma Gaurava meetings at Chittoor on November 19 and at Anakapalle on December 10,” he said.
He said the association was not given permission to organise events in cities such as Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Tirupati. “We will organise the events in places such as Nellore and Eluru. By the election time, our campaign will reach its peak and we will approach the Opposition parties to include the issue of OPS in their election manifestos,” he said.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Organisations (FAPTO) have planned a meeting in the next few days and urged all teacher unions to join the cause with the slogan ‘Vote for OPS”. “We will make OPS an election issue and parties, like in a few other States, will be obliged to take a stand in favour of the issue,” said federation Chairman N. Venkateswarlu.
