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Days after the central government notified the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for its 23 lakh-odd employees, the Punjab government has decided to study the scheme to see if it can be implemented for the state government employees who joined service after January 1, 2004. The state government took the decision to examine the new scheme amid mounting pressure from government employees to fulfil its pre-poll promise of reverting to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) from the National Pension Scheme (NPS). A high-level committee constituted to draft the standard operating procedure for the implementation of the OPS, will be asked to study the new scheme which was notified by the Union finance ministry last week, a senior functionary of the state government told HT.
He said the committee will study the scheme’s benefits, terms and conditions, and the government’s financial liability and assess its suitability for the state employees before finalising the standard operating procedure. The UPS, which is slated to come into effect from April 1, will have an assured payout of ₹ 10,000 for employees superannuating after qualifying services of 10 years and a full assured pension at the rate of 50% of the average basic pay over the 12 months immediately prior to retirement with qualifying service of 25 years. There will be a proportionate payout in case of a lesser qualifying service period and dearness relief will be available on the assured payout and family payout on the lines of dearness, according to the notification issued by the central government on January 24.
Under UPS, the government’s contribution will be 18.5%, up from NPS’s 14%, while the share of the employee remains the same at 10%. The union finance ministry initially announced the UPS as an option after receiving clearance from the Union cabinet in August 2024, and the state government was awaiting a detailed notification regarding the operationalisation of the new scheme for the central government employees covered under the National Pension Scheme.
Punjab has over two lakh government employees who joined the service after the switch from OPS to NPS was made in 2004. They have been seeking a return to the old pension scheme from NPS, a contributory, market-linked scheme where retirement benefits depend on returns from financial markets. In the run-up to the state assembly elections in 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had promised to restore OPS, and its government issued the notification for implementation on November 18, but it has remained on paper till now.
Employees’ union leader Sukhchain Singh Khehra said that like NPS, UPS is also a contributory scheme where government employees have to contribute 10% share. “This is not acceptable to most employees, and the state government should restore OPS without any further delay as was promised by them before the elections,” he said..
