Central and state government employees are agitating for restoration of old pension in the country. Many rallies have been held in Delhi and other states regarding this demand. The employee organizations have only one demand, the restoration of the old guaranteed pension system.
The central government has also formed a committee in this regard. Although there is no mention of OPS anywhere in it. The committee will give its report only on improvements in NPS. This matter has now been raised in Parliament also.
In response to a question asked by Lok Sabha members Nav Kumar Sarnia, Deepak Baij and Kripal Balaji Tumane, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary said that there is no such proposal under consideration of the government for the restoration of OPS.
Also, the money deposited by employees in the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under NPS cannot be given to the state governments.
At present there are 67,95,449 pensioners under the Central Government. Actually, Lok Sabha members Nav Kumar Sarnia, Deepak Baij and Kripal Balaji Tumane had asked what is the number of pensioners in the country.
What decision has been taken by the government to refund NPS funds to the states that have restarted OPS?
Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, Pankaj Choudhary said that there is no such proposal under consideration of the government for restoration of OPS in respect of central government employees.
A committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Finance Secretary to look into the issue of pension under NPS in respect of government employees.
Five states have implemented OPS
The State Governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have informed the Central Government/PFRDA about their decision to revert to the old pension scheme for their employees.
These State Governments have requested for withdrawal of contributions and benefits received thereon. However, the Government of Punjab has informed the Government of India that it will continue to pay employee and government contributions into the NPS.
