New Delhi (The Hawk): Monday, Parliament was informed that there is no proposal under consideration by the Central government to reinstate the old pension scheme.
In a written response to a question from Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad informed the Lok Sabha that the Indian government has no plans to reinstate the previous pension scheme.
"Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand have informed the Central government and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) of their determination to revive the old pension plan (OPS) for their state government employees... The Punjab state government issued a notification on November 18, 2022, addressing the introduction of the OPS for government employees who are currently covered by the National Pension System (NPS) "He stated in his response.
Karad added that the state governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand have submitted suggestions to the Central government and the PFRDA to return the accumulated corpus of NPS subscribers to their respective state governments, but the Punjab government has not submitted a similar request.
The PFRDA has informed the governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand that there is no provision in the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013, read with the PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the National Pension System) Regulations, 2015, and other relevant regulations, as amended from time to time, pursuant to which the funds, which are already deposited both in the form of government contribution and employee contribution, can be withdrawn.
(Inputs from Agencies)
