HT Correspondent
SIVASAGAR, Sept 5: The 95th All Assam Ministerial Officers’ Association (AAMOA) conference took place at Sibsagar Girls’ College on Monday, attracting delegates from all districts of Assam. The event commenced with Satya Narayan Rai, AAMOA president, hoisting the association’s flag, followed by Dinesh Konwar, former president, paying tribute to the departed.
In the morning, Tanukrishna Goswami, adviser, inaugurated the first session of the conference. During this session, Kagen Gogoi, Nripen Bhuyan, and other delegates engaged in discussions concerning the issues and challenges faced by government employees.
In the afternoon session, senior journalist Manoj Kumar Borthakur spoke as an appointed speaker about the ‘Relevance and Severities of the National Pension Scheme (NPS)’. Borthakur highlighted that, as of April 2023, there were over 6 crore NPS contributors in India, contributing substantial sums each month. He emphasised that the government could effectively allocate these contributions to other development initiatives, albeit at the expense of contributors’ access to information about government plans. Borthakur addressed the concerns of employees regarding NPS, particularly the uncertainty surrounding retirement benefits and family pensions, comparing NPS to the old pension scheme.
Pradip Rajkhowa, vice president of Sadau Asom Karmachari Parishad, noted that the organisation has been advocating for various relaxations and benefits for state government employees since the introduction of the NPS system. Rajkhowa called for a rollback of the government policy and the reinstatement of the old pension scheme (OPS) in the state. He encouraged all state associations to collaborate and press the government on this issue.
Several other leaders, including Jawaharjyoti Changkakoti, Jitu Bora, Dharmeswar Laskar, Dilip Dutta, Abu Saleh Jakir Ahmed, and more, participated in the conference’s proceedings. The event provided a platform for comprehensive discussions on NPS concerns and the welfare of government employees in Assam.
