Govt in no mood to replace NPS by Old Pension Scheme

January 02: This  is another jolt for those employees who joined service after 1 January 2004 under the National Pension Scheme (NPS). Numerous trade unions and employees organisations have been demanding the revival of the Old Pension Scheme. On the face of it, Shimla MP Virender Kahsyap posed a question during the ongoing winter session of the Parliament. Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that “There is no proposal to replace the National Pension Scheme with old pension scheme in respect of Central Government employees recruited on or after January 1, 2004.”

Mr. Shukla further said that the pension bill had been rising and had become unsustainable. A total of Rs 1,56,641.29 crore was spent paying pension during 2017-18. He further added that number of family pensioners getting pension through Central Pension Accounting Office by authorised bank under the NPS as on November 30 was 4,779.

MOS for Finance further informed the Parliament on Monday that the mandatory contribution by the central government for Tier 1 accounts of its employees covered under NPS had been enhanced from the existing 10 to 14 per cent. This, he said will require an additional financial liability of Rs 2,840 crore in 2019-20 upon the country’s exchequer.