Unified Pension Scheme / Has the government replaced NPS with UPS? Finance Minister cleared all the confusion

The Centre has approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which will provide pension of 50% of the last 12 months' salary after 25 years of service. In response to criticism from the Congress, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman described UPS as a new scheme and said it is not a replacement for OPS or NPS.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Aug 28, 2024, 11:40 AM

Unified Pension Scheme: The central government has recently approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), in which government employees who have worked for 25 years will get 50% pension of the basic salary of the last 12 months of retirement. Congress raised questions on UPS and accused the government of backtracking. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman refuted this and said that UPS is a completely new scheme and it does not replace the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) or National Pension Scheme (NPS). She said that UPS provides better pension benefits to the employees without putting much burden on the government and most of the states will adopt it. Sitharaman termed the criticism of the Congress as spreading misleading information and said that the reforms are not a U-turn, but necessary changes.

UPS is a completely new scheme

Nirmala Sitharaman accused the Congress of spreading misleading information and said that the recently introduced Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) is a new scheme and it has not been brought in place of the National Pension Scheme (NPS). She said, "This is not a U-turn. It is different from OPS (Old Pension Scheme) and NPS (National Pension System). This is clearly a new package."

Many benefits for employees in UPS

The Union Finance Minister said that the recently announced UPS is a better pension scheme and most government employees will be satisfied with it. Sitharaman said that UPS has been designed in such a way that it fits in every calculation and there is no burden on the government. She hoped that most states will adopt UPS as it has many benefits for employees.

The government has not taken a U-turn on the pension scheme but has made improvements

On the allegation of the Congress that the government has taken a U-turn on the pension scheme, the Finance Minister said that the government has improved the pension scheme and this is not a U-turn. She said that nowadays Congress makes comments without extensive study, which did not happen earlier. He defended his previous decision to restore indexation benefits on long-term capital gains tax, saying it was not a U-turn but a change.