When will the Unified Pension Scheme be implemented?

This scheme will come into effect from april 1, 2025 and in this, government employees will get a fixed pension after retirement. The government has not made the Unified Pension Scheme the default pension scheme, but it can be considered as an alternative to the existing National Pension Scheme. This pension scheme can directly benefit more than 90 lakh government employees across the country.

Why was there a need to bring a Unified Pension Scheme?

The National Pension Scheme (NPS) was introduced for government employees about 20 years (two decades) ago. On january 1, 2004, NPS replaced OPS and after this the government employees joining the job were kept under NPS. In place of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), many states decided to remove NPS and go back to OPS. However, in the last few years, displeasure was expressed among government employees about the National Pension System and it also became a big election issue. Hence, many states have decided to move away from the National Pension System and go back to the old pension scheme, which includes Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab.

Why is the Unified Pension Scheme beneficial for government employees?

The government has expressed its intention to provide minimum pension in the Unified Pension Scheme. The Modi government at the Centre claims that about 23 lakh people (government employees) are going to benefit directly from this pension scheme. Apart from this, all those government employees who were eligible for NPS are eligible to avail this benefit. That is, every government employee who started his job after 1 april 2004 can avail the benefits of the Unified Pension Scheme. All eligible employees will not get the benefits of the Unified Pension Scheme automatically. All eligible government employees are going to get the option of Unified Pension Scheme along with the National Pension Scheme. If an employee wants to remain in NPS, he can remain in the existing pension system, but to avail the benefits of the new Unified Pension Scheme, he will have to choose the option of UPS.