For the first time, the government has made a historic change in the pension rules for millions of government employees in the country. Under the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), now if an employee takes voluntary retirement (VRS), he will start getting the benefit of pension immediately. Till now, after taking VRS, one had to wait for a pension, but the rules have been changed in UPS. The government has taken this decision for the benefit of those employees who are unable to complete their job for some reason or who are given VRS by the government.
Why was this decision taken?
When the government introduced UPS as an alternative to NPS (National Pension Scheme), the employees opposed it. They said that even at UPS, those who take VRS do not get a pension immediately, and they have to wait for a long time. To eliminate this problem, the government has now made a provision to give an immediate pension to those who take VRS. This is an important step that fulfills the long-standing demand of the employees.
Opposition to NPS and rise of UPS
The government launched NPS in 2004 by abolishing the old pension scheme. It was a market-based pension scheme, which was strongly opposed by employee organizations and demanded restoration of the old pension. After this, the government introduced UPS as an alternative to NPS, which has a provision of a guaranteed pension. However, since the launch, only 1 percent of the employees have opted for it and have called it a useless scheme like NPS. Employee organizations are still adamant about the demand for the old pension scheme.
Last date to choose UPS
The government has implemented UPS from 1 April 2025. Earlier, the last date to choose it was 30 June, which was later extended to 30 September 2025. Now, only a few days are left in this deadline, and so far, only 1 percent of the employees have opted for it. The government has also added many new features to make it attractive, but till now, the employees have not been able to see any special benefit in it. How beneficial this new change will prove to be for the employees will be known only in the future.