Unified pension Scheme: Modi cabinet approved the unified pension scheme, what are its political implications

New Delhi : Amidst the growing demand for implementation of old pension among central employees, the central government has taken an important decision. The government has announced the implementation of a new pension scheme for central employees. There has been a political tussle over the pension scheme. Congress has been constantly cornering the government over OPS. In such a situation, PM Narendra Modi Taking a big decision on Saturday, the central government introduced a new format of pension scheme in the country, which has been named Unified Pension Scheme or Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). This scheme will be implemented across the country from April 1, 2025. Giving information about the cabinet decision, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that there was a demand from the employees that they should be given a guaranteed pension. The government researched this demand and came up with a 50 percent guaranteed pension scheme.

23 lakh employees benefited

The government said that about 23 lakh employees will benefit from this scheme. This will be another pension option. The National Pension Scheme (NPS) present in the country will continue for the time being. Employees will have the option to choose between the old and the new scheme. There will be an option to choose between NPS and UPS. Those who have already chosen NPS will also benefit from this. It is interesting that before implementing this scheme, PM Modi had met representatives of organizations related to central employees during the day.

Modi government approves ‘Unified Pension Scheme’, government employees are happy

Key points of the new plan

– Those who work for 25 years or more will get full benefits.
– To determine pension, the average of the basic part of the salary received in the last 12 months at the time of retirement will be calculated. Roughly, 50% of the basic will be given as pension.
– If an employee dies while on the job, his/her family or partner will get 60% of the family pension. Currently it is 50%. The family pension is half.
– Minimum 10 years of service will be mandatory to get pension. Assured minimum pension of Rs 10,000 per month on retirement after minimum 10 years of service.
– Employees will have the option to choose between NPS and UPS. Those who have already opted for NPS will also get the benefit. It is believed that those with NPS will benefit from switching to UPS.
– Based on the Centre’s plan, the state governments will also be able to implement this model.
– Employees will not have to make a separate contribution for this. The central government will bear its share, which will be around 18 percent. While the employee’s contribution will be ten percent in this, just like NPS.
– The scheme will provide the benefit of inflation indexation.
– On retirement, along with gratuity, one-tenth of the monthly salary (salary + DA) will be given for every six months of service. This amount will not be less than the fixed pension.

What is the political meaning

By introducing UPS, the NDA government led by PM Modi has tried to reject the long-standing demand for OPS from the opposition. The central government has brought this scheme at a time when elections have been announced in two states of the country, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. Elections are also to be held soon in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. It is believed that by introducing UPS, the central government has tried to give relief to the angry middle class. It is seeing its benefit in these elections. Right now, before the assembly elections of four states, this decision of the central government is being considered a course correction in this direction. However, the central government said that the permission of the Election Commission is not required to implement this scheme. It is worth mentioning that for the last few years, there was intense politics over the old pension scheme. All the opposition parties including Congress had surrounded the BJP-led central government on this issue. In Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Congress had also implemented the old pension for state employees. Its effect was seen that the BJP government had to face the anger of government employees.

What did PM Modi say on the Unified Pension Scheme to protect the dignity and financial security of employees?

government’s exercise

Before implementing this scheme, the government did many exercises. Regarding this, Vaishnav said that on one hand we held several meetings with the Joint Consultative Mechanism of the Central Government and also looked at how this scheme is implemented in many countries of the world. There was a lot of discussion on this. Meetings were held with RBI to understand the Indian economy and the budget of the Central Government. After this, the Unified Pension Scheme was implemented.

In this regard, Shiv Gopal Mishra, Secretary, Staff Side, Joint Consultative Machinery said that perhaps this is the first time in the history of India that a Prime Minister has consulted government employees. Our meeting took place in a very cordial atmosphere. Mishra expressed hope that this will be of special benefit to the employees coming under NPS, who were left at the mercy of market fluctuations after 2004. NPS employees will also be able to get a guaranteed pension now.