Faced with several demands from government employees, the Punjab government on Friday took a decision to restore the Old Pension Scheme.

The state cabinet took the decision, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann tweeted.

"Today, in the Punjab cabinet meeting, a historic decision has been taken for its employees...your government is going to restore the old pension scheme...the cabinet has given in-principle approval to this decision...We stand by our employees...promised..delivered...

What we say, we do," Mann tweeted.

Earlier, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand too went back to the Old Pension Scheme and quashed the new pension scheme.

Under the old pension scheme, a government employee is entitled to a monthly pension after retirement. The monthly pension is typically half of the last drawn salary of the person.

Under the new pension scheme, employees contribute a portion of their salaries to the pension fund. Based on that, they are entitled to a one-time lump sum amount on superannuation.

For the record, the old pension scheme was discontinued in December 2003, and the new pension scheme came into effect on April 1, 2004.

(With inputs from ANI)