Employees welcome the extension of OPS benefits

Employees who availed of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) extension pour milk on the portrait of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during an appreciation meeting at the Swarna Bharathi Indoor Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. | Photo credit: IN PARADISE

Government employees who benefited from the state government’s decision to extend the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to a section of employees who were earlier covered by the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) attended a thank-you meeting at the Swarna Bharathi Indoor Stadium in the city on Sunday and expressed their gratitude to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Organized under the auspices of AP DSC Forum, Noble Teachers Association, PRTU, APTF and other staff and teacher associations representing OPS beneficiaries in North Andhra, the program attracted a large number of employees and their family members from the region. Employees poured milk on the portrait of the Chief Minister in a symbolic gesture of gratitude and raised slogans thanking the government for the restoration of pension benefits.

Legislative Council Government Whip Vepada Chiranjeevi Rao, TDP State President and MLA Gajuwaka Palla Srinivasa Rao, Visakhapatnam East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu, Visakhapatnam North MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju and Constituency Alumni MLCth Rajula Srinivasek Rajath Rajcharrik Alapatisek Peraa program.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Chiranjeevi Rao said that the coalition government has provided financial security to nearly 11,000 families by extending OPS to eligible employees. He said that the employees retire from service but their families continue to depend on financial support after retirement, making pension provision an important social provision. He alleged that government employees faced difficulties in collecting arrears of cash assistance and reimbursement of medical bills during the tenure of the previous government.

Mr. Chiranjeevi Rao said the government has extended OPS, family pensions and gratuity to employees recruited under the 2004 notification who joined service later due to technical reasons. He also thanked the Chief Minister for increasing the salaries of teachers at par with that of the staff and appealed to the staff and teachers to cooperate with the government for the development of the state.

Mr. Palla Srinivasa Rao said the coalition government remained committed to the welfare of staff and teachers. Mr. Vishnu Kumar Raju alleged that teachers were humiliated during the tenure of the previous government by being deployed to regulate queues at liquor shops. Mr. Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu said that the Government would support every measure for the benefit of the employees. Representatives of various employee and teachers’ associations also addressed the rally and thanked the state government for extending pension benefits.

Published – 19 Jul 2026 21:29 IST