Kundapur: A senior citizen couple died on Monday evening after they were knocked down by a car when they were crossing road on National Highway 66 near the Vinayaka movie theatre in town.

The deceased couple has been identified as Mahabala Shetty (68) and his wife Saroja Shetty (60), residents of Honnala in Haradi village, Brahmavara taluk.

They had visited a relative in Kundapur and were returning home, when they were knocked down by a car that was traveling from Kundapur towards Udupi.

Mahabala Shetty died on the spot, while Saroja Shetty, who was grievously injured died on the way to hospital.

Kundapur Traffic Police have registered a case against the car driver Manjunath.

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Bengaluru: Government employees in Karnataka have urged the state government to scrap the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), The New Indian Express reported.

The demand was made by the Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association, whose leaders met senior IAS officer Uma Mahadevan on Monday and submitted a memorandum. The association asked the NPS Review Committee, headed by senior IAS officer Anjum Parvez, to recommend the reintroduction of OPS in the state.

Association president C.S. Shadakshari reportedly said the review committee has already visited Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where NPS was revoked and OPS re-implemented. The committee is yet to submit its report, but has told the government it will do so soon.

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Shadakshari allegedly said NPS has been in force in Karnataka since 2006. He pointed out that West Bengal never adopted the scheme, while Andhra Pradesh and Telangana replaced NPS with a contributory pension model.

States including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand have already scrapped NPS through cabinet decisions or budget announcements.

“Under NPS, 10% of the employees’ basic salary and DA, and 14% contribution from the state is credited to the employees’ fund. It constitutes 24% of the total which is non-withdrawable. This is invested in the share market and the final amount depends on the ups and downs of the market,” TNIE quoted Shadakshar as saying.

As per the report, he said that by limiting its contribution to 14%, the government could save up to ₹1.87 lakh crore annually if all vacancies are filled, strengthening the case for bringing back the old pension system.