Congress promises Himachal Pradesh time-bound rollout of old pension plan

The Congress central leadership on Friday asserted that the party's election pledge to revive the old pension scheme in Himachal Pradesh "will be implemented in a time-bound manner" and that its to-be-formed State government would find ways to finance it.

The Congress poll manifesto's promise in Himachal Pradesh to revive the old pension scheme - something that has already been set in motion by the Cabinets of the Congress-ruled and poll-bound Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh governments - is being viewed as a key contributor to the party's votes in Himachal Pradesh. There are indications that many election-bound State Congress units, including next-in-line Karnataka, could now make the revival of the old pension scheme part of the party's poll promises to take on BJP and its state regimes.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) also brushed aside arguments that the promise amounted to discarding the reform agenda brought in by its previous Manmohan Singh-led government as the Centre. "The word 'reforms' is a much-abused word. Anything and everything can get classified as reforms and then all conversations come to a stop. This old pension scheme has been a running demand for years. The Congress Party has taken a considered view and whatever may be the views of some individuals (a reference to some stray voices of scepticism from within), the party view is what predominates," said AICC communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh.


"What is socially desirable overtakes what is financially prudent. We have to find the resources...Was the MGNREGA financially prudent? The greatest 'champions' of MGNREGA today were the ones (a reference to the BJP) who were raising questions on its financial prudence..." Ramesh added.