Guwahati, Mar 4 (PTI) Opposition parties in Assam on Tuesday demanded the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees, leading to uproarious scenes in the assembly, a brief adjournment of proceedings and suspension of an MLA for the day.

The matter was moved as a resolution by Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, urging the government to restore OPS for all government teachers and other employees "in order to secure their future, ensure social security and to give recognition for dedicating the active period of their lives to serve the public and the government".

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He maintained that the National Pension System (NPS) and the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) were not beneficial for employees as they would be entitled to a meagre amount of money after attaining superannuation.

Other opposition parties, including Congress, AIUDF and CPI(M), also supported the resolution, urging the government to restore OPS.

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Congress MLA Jakir Hussain Sikdar said, "The employees work for the government during their most productive years. It is the responsibility of the government to look after them post-retirement."

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, replying to the discussion, said the state government is in the process of implementing the UPS and the finance department is working on it.

On the demand for restoring OPS, the minister said the state government will not be doing it.

Following Patowary's reply, Deputy Speaker Numal Momin asked Gogoi if he would be withdrawing the resolution, to which the Independent legislator responded in the negative.

Momin then put the resolution to a voice vote and ruled that it was defeated, leading Gogoi and AIUDF MLAs to demand a vote on the matter.

The deputy speaker asserted that the resolution has already been defeated by a voice vote and tried to proceed to the next listed business.

However, the opposition benches continued demanding a vote on the resolution, leading to noisy scenes and prompting Momin to adjourn proceedings for three minutes.

When the House reassembled, Gogoi once again raised the demand for a vote, leading the deputy speaker to suspend the MLA for the rest of the day.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)