Maharashtra has a debt of Rs 6.5 lakh crore and the reintroduction of the Old Pension Scheme will entail an additional burden of Rs 1.10 lakh crore per year, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the Legislative Council on Thursday.
Parties like the Congress have been seeking reintroduction of the OPS, which they claim is more beneficial to government staffers, in place of the New Pension Scheme, which was brought in by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre in 2004.
Mr Fadnavis was replying to question on OPS by Congress MLC Sudhir Tambe.
"Every government wants to make its employees happy. However, it is currently not possible to implement the Old Pension Scheme of 1982. If the scheme will be implemented, the (state) government will have to take a loan to pay the interest. The revenue deficit is high currently," Mr Fadnavis said.
He also said the staffing pattern of some departments had been restructured as per the new technology.
Replying to a question by Nationalist Congress Party legislator Eknath Khadse, the deputy Chief Minister said the state is not bankrupt, but agreed more than 50 per cent of government income was being spent on interest, wages and pension in the fiscal 2022-23.
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