‘They are just announcing to get votes’: Ravi Shankar Prasad attacks Congress after the latter criticises Unified Pension Scheme

The Congress’s excitement over the Unified Pension Scheme – seen as a reversal of the BJP government’s previous policy – has drawn fresh criticism from the BJP. Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad today challenged the Congress to fulfil its election promises, especially on pensions.

“I would like to ask Rahul Gandhi whether his government has implemented the Old Pension Scheme as promised in Himachal Pradesh?” Prasad said.

“The Congress party has become so sensitive to the blatant falsifications in its pension claims that it did not have the courage to include it in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections,” the former minister said.

“Governing India is a serious matter… The Congress party is just making announcements to garner votes and now the public has lost confidence in its decisions,” he added.

The unified pension scheme announced on Saturday largely mirrors the old pension scheme from before 2004. It guarantees government employees a lifetime monthly pension of 50% of their final basic salary.

The new pension scheme, introduced in 2004 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, linked the pension amount to contributions paid by both the government and the employee.

At that time, many of the states where the opposition remained opposed the new pension program, while five states decided to retain the old pension program.

Under the old pension system, employees did not have to pay contributions, which is still the subject of activities by various employee organizations.

Under the single pension scheme, in force from April 2025, employees will have to contribute 10 percent of their salary, while the government will contribute 18.5 percent, although this amount may increase.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge mocked the BJP, saying the ‘U’ in the name UPS stands for ‘U-turn’, which he said was a hallmark of the BJP’s third term.

The “U” in UPS stands for the Modi government’s “U turn”! After June 4, the power of the people prevailed over the arrogance of the PM’s power.
— Budget withdrawal on long-term capital gains/indexation
— Sending Waqf Bill to JPC
— Withdrawal of the draft law on broadcasting
— Side Entry Withdrawal
We will continue to ensure accountability and protect 140 million Indians from this despotic government!” read Mr Kharge’s post on X, formerly Twitter.