Primary teachers’ associations from Vadodara, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, and Narmada districts held a symbolic protest on Thursday to demand the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) on the occasion of Dr. BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.
The teachers also sent a memo to the elected MLAs in their respective constituencies.
Teachers associations in Panchmahals, Chhota Udepur, Vadodara, and Narmada joined a state-wide protest call by government teachers, demanding the implementation OPS, which had been done away in December 2003.
The teachers, who submitted facsimile memorandum to their respective elected representatives have warned of agitations if the Old Pension Scheme is not brought into effect.
The teachers, on Thursday, took out protest rallies, chanted slogans, and demanded the implementation of their constitutional rights while invoking Dr BR Ambedkar.
“The most important contention is that the OPS did not require a 10% contribution from the employees’ salaries… In NPS, there is no provision for a provident fund. There are many states which have already brought back the OPS, especially those that are not governed by the BJP… NPS is detrimental to the life saving of teachers and in an event of untimely death, the family receives no benefits,” said a teacher from Karjan.