In a sharp critique, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took aim at the Modi government’s recently approved Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government employees, dubbing the scheme’s ‘U’ as a symbol of the government’s numerous U-turns. Kharge, in a post on X, remarked, “The ‘U’ in UPS stands for Modi Govt’s U turns! Post June 4, the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of power of the Prime Minister. Rollback in the budget regarding Long Term Capital Gain/Indexation. Sending Waqf Bill to JPC. Rollback of Broadcast Bill. Rollback of Lateral Entry.”
Kharge emphasized that the Congress would continue to hold the government accountable and protect the interests of 140 crore Indians from what he described as a “despotic government.”
The Centre, on Saturday, greenlit the UPS, ensuring government employees an assured pension of 50% of their average basic pay over the last 12 months prior to retirement, provided they have a minimum of 25 years of service. For shorter service durations, a proportional pension will be given, with a minimum qualifying service of 10 years. Additionally, an assured family pension is set at 60% of the employee’s pension at the time of their death.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Home Minister Amit Shah both praised the scheme, with Prime Minister Modi highlighting its importance in securing the financial future of government employees. The government denied any electoral motivations behind the scheme’s timing.
