Finance Ministry: There Are No Plans To Provide 40–45% Pension To Employees Under NPS

The country’s old pension plan (OPS) and new pension scheme (NPS) have been a source of contention between the central government and the opposition for a significant amount of time. There have been rumors that the government may change the NPS regulations and provide central personnel with a sizable benefit. Pankaj Chaudhary, the minister of state for finance, confirmed in the Rajya Sabha in answer to questions that the government is not presently considering any proposal to provide central workers a minimum pension of 40% to45% of their final wage.

MP KD Singh asked if the federal government intended to change the formula for the market-linked pension that NPS recipients receive during question time in the Rajya Sabha. He specifically recommended providing a pension equal to 40% to45% of the workers’ final wage. But according to Chaudhary, the administration is not presently considering any such idea.

NPS is legal in the nation as of January 1, 2004. The government just established a committee in April 2023, under the direction of the Finance Secretary, to evaluate the NPS. This committee has been entrusted with evaluating the efficiency and operation of the new pension plan, and it is anticipated that it will wrap up its evaluation in a year. The goal of this evaluation is to analyze the NPS and maybe suggest improvements or modifications.

The committee established to study the NPS as of right now has not given the government its report. Chaudhary acknowledged that the committee’s report is still pending and has not yet been received.

In fact, numerous states, including Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab, have made the removal of the previous pension plan a key electoral issue. Attention is being drawn to these states’ decision to withdraw from the OPS, which might have an impact on the next elections for state assemblies. It draws attention to the continuing discussion and worries about pension laws, as well as their possible effects on public workers and pensioners in these states.