Will Congress Undo Its Blunder? (An Open Letter to the Leader of the Opposition)

Will Congress Undo Its Blunder?

(An Open Letter to the Leader of the Opposition) 

Dear Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji,

History does not merely remember those who committed mistakes; it also remembers those who had the courage to correct them. Today, more than two decades after the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) was dismantled, millions of Central and State Government employees, pensioners and their families continue to bear the burden of a political decision that has robbed them of financial security in old age. The time has come for the Indian National Congress, under your leadership, to acknowledge its share of responsibility and lead the national campaign to restore justice.

The assault on pension security began on 22 December 2003, when the then NDA Government abolished the Old Pension Scheme through an executive order and imposed the market-linked National Pension System (NPS) with effect from 1 January 2004. It was one of the most far-reaching decisions affecting public servants since Independence. But the story did not end there. When the Congress-led UPA Government came to power in 2004, millions expected the decision to be reversed. Instead, the Government introduced the PFRDA Bill in 2005, which ultimately became the PFRDA Act, 2013, with the support of the BJP in Opposition. Thus, the two principal national parties—though political rivals—became equal partners in replacing a guaranteed pension with a contributory market-based system.

This was not merely a policy shift. It was a historic mistake. Today, that mistake deserves a historic correction.

For twenty-one years, employees and pensioners have struggled relentlessly for restoration of OPS. Their demand has never been for privilege; it has always been for dignity. Pension is not a welfare measure. It is deferred wages earned through decades of dedicated public service. Instead of restoring OPS, the Union Government constituted a committee in 2023 and eventually announced the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) in August 2024, promising "Assured Pension", "Assured Family Pension" and "Assured Minimum Pension." However, the Gazette Notification issued in January 2025 quietly substituted the word "pension" with "payout." That single change exposed the entire exercise. What was projected as social security became nothing more than another financial product. 

Employees understood the deception immediately. Significantly, out of more than 26 lakh NPS subscribers, only about 1.22 lakh employees (around 4.5%) opted for UPS, indicating widespread dissatisfaction. No stronger democratic verdict could have been delivered. The overwhelming majority refused to exchange guaranteed lifelong pension for an uncertain market-linked payout. Yet, instead of listening to this unprecedented rejection, the Government chose to defend the indefensible. The argument repeatedly advanced is that OPS is "fiscally unsustainable." But can fiscal prudence be invoked only when the beneficiaries are retired employees?

India's GDP has grown by approximately 165 percent between FY 2014-15 and FY 2025-26, while combined tax revenues have increased by about 205 percent during the same period. Yet expenditure on salaries, allowances, and pensions constitutes only about 12 to 15 percent of total government expenditure. If India has become the world's fourth-largest economy with a GDP of nearly 4.3 trillion dollars, and if government revenues have increased substantially over the last decade, then the fruits of that growth must also reach the employees who implement government policies and the pensioners who built the nation's administrative foundations.  In addition, during the last decade, the Union Government wrote off corporate bad loans running into lakhs of crores and extended massive tax concessions to large industries. If the nation can afford enormous relief for corporate India, how can it plead financial helplessness when it comes to the men and women who spent their lives serving the Republic? This is not fiscal discipline. It is fiscal discrimination.

The contradiction becomes even sharper when several States including Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Rajasthan resolved to restore OPS and sought return of their accumulated NPS corpus. Citing the PFRDA Act, the Centre denied refund of thousands of crores belonging to these States, effectively frustrating the democratic decisions of elected State Governments. This is no longer merely a pension dispute. It is a serious question of federalism.

And now comes perhaps the gravest concern. Through the Finance Act, 2025, Parliament has retrospectively validated pension rules and empowered the Government to classify pensioners on the basis of retirement dates and other criteria. In effect, the law legitimises unequal treatment among pensioners who rendered identical service. This strikes at the heart of Article 14 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court, in the celebrated D.S. Nakara judgment, unequivocally held that pension is a deferred portion of compensation and that pensioners under the same scheme constitute one homogeneous class. Arbitrary classifications based on cut-off dates were declared unconstitutional. Yet the Finance Act, 2025 attempts to reopen precisely that door which the Supreme Court had firmly closed. If equality before law is diluted in retirement, it weakens equality itself.

Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji, this is where history now places a unique responsibility upon your shoulders. The Congress cannot erase the past, but it can certainly correct it. The Party that once helped institutionalise the PFRDA regime now has an opportunity to lead the movement for restoring the Old Pension Scheme, repealing the discriminatory provisions introduced through the Finance Act, 2025, and ensuring equal treatment for every pensioner irrespective of retirement date. Such a stand would not merely be an electoral promise. It would be an act of moral accountability. Millions of employees, pensioners and their families are waiting for a national leader who is willing to admit that mistakes were made and who possesses the courage to rectify them. History rarely offers political leaders a second opportunity to correct a national wrong. This is one such opportunity when the Govt is shortly going to take many major decisions on pay and pension through the recommendations of 8th CPC which is functional now.

The Congress has already demonstrated in several States that restoration of OPS is both politically and administratively possible. Now the nation expects the same commitment at the national level. Raise this issue forcefully inside Parliament. Demand repeal of the discriminatory pension provisions. Stand with employees, pensioners and senior citizens. Let the Congress not merely criticise the injustice committed by the present Government, but also acknowledge and rectify its own contribution to the dismantling of pension security.

(The author is a Service Union Representative and a Columnist)

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