A day after Praveen Chakravarty, the head of the Congress’s data analytics department, cast doubts on the financial feasibility of reinstating the old pension scheme (OPS) in Gujarat—a promise made by the party—the Congress clarified on Wednesday that his remarks were his personal opinion and should not have been aired publicly.
Chakravarty had expressed on Twitter, “Out of 6.5 crore people in Gujarat, about 3 lakh are in government service. The old pension scheme will cost roughly 15% of tax revenues. Why should the top 0.5% of people get 15% of all taxpayers’ money as post-retirement pension? Arvind Panagariya is right to question.” He had also shared an interview with Panagariya, the former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, in which Panagariya criticized promises like reviving the OPS as “sinful” and “immoral,” citing their potential significant financial burden on future governments.
Responding to Chakravarty’s comments at a press conference, Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate stated, “I don’t think there is any contradiction. I really think this may have been his personal view, perhaps should not have been aired publicly, but I don’t think there is anything wrong in bringing back the OPS.” She highlighted that Congress governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh had reintroduced the OPS in response to popular demand.
Jairam Ramesh, Congress’s general secretary in charge of communications, supported this perspective, agreeing with a colleague’s Twitter post that there was no division within the party on the issue. He emphasized that Chakravarty’s views were those of an individual expressing his personal opinion and not reflective of the party’s official stance.