There is a big relief news for all those Central Government Employees who come under the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)! Now these employees will also get the retirement and death gratuity benefits available under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). Union Minister Jitendra Singh gave this important information on Wednesday.

Referring to this long-standing demand of a large section of government employees, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said that this step meets an important demand of government employees and brings parity in retirement benefits. He emphasized that this new provision reflects the government’s commitment to ensure social security for all categories of employees under the National Pension System (NPS).

Many reforms to empower citizens

Jitendra Singh told a conference organized on the visit of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions in the last 11 years that many reforms have been done to simplify governance, empower citizens, and make administration humane. He said that now the Central Government employees covered under the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) will be eligible for retirement and death gratuity benefits as per the provisions of the Central Civil Services (Payment of Gratuity under NPS) Rules, 2021.

The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DOPPW) of the Personnel Ministry on Wednesday issued an order providing clarity on the options for central government employees covered under the Unified Pension Scheme to avail benefits under OPS upon termination of government service due to death during service or incapacity/disability.

Employees will get a choice

“This order gives an employee the option of whether or not to be taken back under the ambit of OPS if he dies during service. It is progressive and addresses the clarifications being sought by employees,” DOPPW Secretary V. Srinivas told PTI. Manjit Singh Patel, president of the All India NPS Employees Federation, welcomed the government order and called it a historic and much-needed step by the government.

A large number of employees will choose the Unified Pension Scheme

Manjit Singh Patel said that the inclusion of Death-cum-Retirement Gratuity in the Unified Pension Scheme will remove all the misunderstandings among the employees. He hoped that in such a situation, now a large number of employees would choose the Unified Pension Scheme.

The DOPPW had notified the Central Civil Services (Implementation of NPS) Rules, 2021 to regulate the service-related matters of Central Government employees covered under NPS. Its Rule 10 provides for an employee covered under NPS to choose the option of availing benefits under NPS or OPS in the event of death or retirement on the basis of invalidity or disability during service.

What was said in the Finance Ministry notification

The Finance Ministry had said in a notification issued on January 24 that the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) will be introduced as an option under the NPS for employees recruited in the Central Government Civil Services from April 1, 2025.

The DoPPW issued another order on Wednesday, clarifying that central government employees covered under the Unified Pension Scheme will also be eligible for the benefits of retirement gratuity and death gratuity under the provisions of the Central Civil Services (Payment of Gratuity under National Pension System) Rules, 2021. Srinivas said the order “brings parity between pensioners of NPS and Unified Pension Scheme and they will also be eligible for gratuity up to ₹25 lakh.”