Deve Gowda asks regional parties to rally behind Congress to stop BJP
Bengaluru: Senior JD(S) leader and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has called upon all the regional parties and secular parties to join hands with the Congress and work in tandem to take on the BJP.
Noting that mere speeches would not help, he said the regional and secular parties should enhance their strength politically in the country.
"We all need to join together with Congress and work in tandem with the available strength only then will we be able to stop them (the BJP)," the JD(S) supremo said at a public meeting organised by the party in Hassan district on Saturday.
Gowda cautioned the regional and secular parties against sitting idle watching the developments in the country.
"If the small and regional parties do not exercise the powers given by Dr B R Ambedkar to the country, they (BJP) are going to the extent of finishing them up," he said.
Interestingly, the JD(S) patriarch, had in the run-up to the December bypolls to Karnataka assembly said he would not align with the Congress and dubbed it as "not trustworthy."
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Karnataka government employees demand return of Old Pension Scheme
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said the review committee has already visited Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where NPS was revoked and OPS re-implemented.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.
