New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) While Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the two biggest national parties remain at loggerheads over the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and Old Pension Scheme (OPS), the newly launched Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) has found support from a leading Congress office-bearer Praveen Chakravarty. Praveen Chakravarty, who heads the All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC), took to microblogging site X, expressed support for the UPS scheme and termed it as a ‘prudent and welcome’ move. Congress leader, who batted for reforms in pension schemes earlier also, looks convinced with the latest scheme. He also sought to explain how the UPS excels the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and has even gone a step ahead in ending the ‘lacuna and loophole’ that existed in it. “OPS was reformed to NPS in 2013. However, NPS did not assure a minimum amount for retired families. Now, UPS does that … UPS = NPS + Min guarantee,” wrote the Cong leader, who also heads the party’s Data Analytics department. The support for UPS from Congress quarters will come as a shot in the arm for the Modi government. Soon after the announcement of UPS on Saturday, the Central government employees’ body also hailed the Modi dispensation for not just acknowledging their concerns but also making amendments to the same. The UPS scheme was cleared by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. It boasts of providing an assured minimum pension and family pension to Central government employees. Notably, Praveen Chakravarty has been a votary of reforms in Pension schemes and ‘differed’ with his own party earlier also, when the latter pushed for a reversal from NPS to OPS in states, during Assembly elections. In an old post on X, the Congress leader had supported former Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya’s views that reverting to OPS will be ‘sinful and immoral’ and will result in an ‘irreversible’ financial burden for future governments.
