UPS: The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for central government employees has received a lukewarm response, with only 4 percent of people showing interest in the scheme. According to data presented in Parliament on Monday, July 3, the number of government employees (including recent entrants) who had opted for UPS stood at 118,195 as of July 19. This represents 4.3% of the 2.76 million central government employees (subscribers) of the National Pension Trust at the end of June.
Guaranteed 50% pension in UPS
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Parliament on Monday, ‘The government has given a one-time ‘one-way switch’ facility to central employees who have opted for UPS to go back to NPS.’
Nirmala Sitharaman said, ‘Along with the guaranteed 50% pension, the government has also introduced retirement gratuity and death gratuity (benefit given to the family in case of death of the subscriber during service).’
The Finance Minister further said, ‘Furthermore, employees who have at least 10 years of service are entitled to a guaranteed minimum monthly payment of Rs 10,000 on retirement.’
The Finance Minister told the Parliament, ‘Till now there is no proposal under consideration to make any changes or replace UPS.’ In response to another question on July 20, the government had told Parliament that 25,756 retired central government subscribers are entitled to additional benefits under UPS.
Central and state government employees have long demanded that pension payments be at least 50% of their last salary. This was the norm under the old pension scheme, which was discontinued in 2004 and replaced by the NPS (which also includes employee contributions).
Many opposition-ruled states had stopped contributing to NPS and wanted to exit it, following which the central government decided to implement UPS from April 2025. The option to switch to UPS received very little response, so the government extended its date to November 30, 2025.
This scheme is for central government employees covered under the NPS. Employees who have retired by March 31, 2025, and have completed at least 10 years of regular service, can also benefit from it, subject to certain conditions. The legal spouses of eligible deceased employees are also covered by this scheme.