Thousands of government employees on Thursday staged a protest outside the Himachal Pradesh assembly in support of their demand for implementation of the old pension scheme which led to a situation of a complete shutdown of premises.

The police tried to stop the padyatra of government employees at various locations in Shimla but a large number of them managed to reach Kenedy Chowk, the main gate of the state assembly, resulting in cops locking all gates.

The employees who were raising slogans for implementation of the old pension scheme by holding tricolour in their hands demanded that Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur come outside to meet them.

However, the state government, as per a statement of the CM, had invited a delegation of protesting employees to meet him to put forward their grievances as the government was open to discussions.

Thakur had reportedly rejected the protesting employees’ demand to come outside to meet them which had led to a logjam outside the assembly premises.

The New Pension Scheme Employees Association (NPSEA) press secretary Ajay Banyal said the protest will continue until their demands aren’t met.

The Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri raised the issue in the house and said the state government had used water cannons and had lathicharged the employees which was wrong as they play a major role in effective implementation of government schemes.

The state government should handle the situation properly as all the gates of the assembly had been locked and no one could move out from the assembly premises due to employees’ protest, he added.

This led to heated exchange between him and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur who accused Agnihotri of instigating the protesting employees.

“It’s only you who has done it. We are trying to resolve the issue,” said an agitated Thakur, who further added that Agnihotri’s political ambitions won’t be fulfilled by indulging in such political moves.

This further agitated the opposition members and heated exchanges ensued between ruling and opposition members, forcing Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar to adjourn the house for five minutes just before the scheduled time of 5 pm.

The house resumed after five minutes but as it was private members day and proceedings could not be extended, the house was adjourned for the day at 5 pm.

The logjam at the assembly continued till late in the evening as neither the state government nor protesting employees refused to budge from their demands.