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.
UPS came after opposition to NPS
The government started the NPS (National Pension Scheme) in 2004 by abolishing the old pension scheme. It was a market-based pension scheme, which was strongly opposed by employee organizations and demanded the 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 its launch, only 1 percent of the employees have opted for it and called it a useless scheme like NPS. Employee organizations are still adamant about the demand for the old pension scheme.
Why was there a problem with VRS?
The employees who chose UPS had also expressed concern about VRS in it. They said that employees who retire prematurely had to wait for a long time to avail themselves of the pension benefits. Till now, those taking VRS had to wait till the age of 60 for a pension, but now the government has made a provision to give the benefit of a pension immediately. Now those taking VRS will not have to wait.
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 time limit, and so far, only 1 percent of the employees have chosen 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.