By Dr. A Mathew, Secretary, Kamgar Ekta Committee
The announcement of a new pension scheme for government employees, Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) on August 24, 2024 has created a division among government employees. While some unions have welcomed it by saying that this is the best we can get from the government, others are saying that the new scheme is not the same as the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which they have been demanding for all government employees.
The main difference between the two schemes is that UPS requires the employee to contribute towards pension while the OPS does not. The government argues that it cannot afford the OPS. It further argues that OPS, if implemented for all, will lead to cut in all other welfare activities of the government.
Can the working class accept these arguments? Is pension a dole to a worker whose amount should be decided on the basis of what the employer can afford to pay?
What should be the outlook of the working class towards pension?
It is universally accepted that pension is a form of social security for a worker after he or she has retired at a certain age or is unable to continue to work due to disability or other reasons. It must be applicable to all working people. It must ensure a dignified existence to the worker when he or she is no longer able to work and it must be regularly upgraded for rising cost of living.
Pension is an entitlement of every worker because he or she has contributed to society through his or her working life. It’s her/his labour that has created all the wealth in the society. During their working life every worker has contributed to government exchequer by way of direct and indirect taxes.
It is the duty of the society to ensure that working people are taken care of in their old age, or when they suffer injuries and are unable to work any longer. Universal pension for all working people is what the working class demands as a right.
However, in our country most of the working people do not get any pension or social security after retirement. The present debate about the pension is related only to government employees.
The capitalist class views working people who have retired as parasites on society. It regards pension paid to workers as a drain on public expenditure. At the same time, it does not hesitate to demand that the government continue to hand out every kind of tax concession and incentive to the capitalists at the expense of the public treasury. The government is ever ready to accede to their demands and write off lakhs of crores of rupees looted by the capitalists in the form of “bad loans”. Who is actually a parasite?
The capitalists deny the fact that workers have contributed to creating the wealth of society during their working life. It is the duty of the government to ensure social security for all working people.
The Article 25.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly 76 years ago in 1948, says:
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”
Beginning in this regard has to be made from the central and state governments since they claim to be model employers. The government must insist that all capitalists create a pension fund for workers. Pension fund must be created irrespective of the nature of employment – permanent or casual or contract or fixed term. For workers who do not have fixed employers, like construction workers, etc. the government must take up the responsibility of building a pension fund for their life after retirement through employers’ and government’s contributions. This has to be also ensured for kisans and agricultural workers. On no account must the pension funds of workers be invested in speculative or other activities.
As an organised contingent of the working class, government employees must fight for the demand that an adequate and defined pension is a universal right, which the government must guarantee to all those who work, including the kisans, agricultural workers and all workers in the private and informal sector.