NPS or UPS: Which is a better option for government employees? Know where you will get more benefits..
NPS vs UPS vs OPS: The Narendra Modi government at the center launched a new pension scheme called Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) last week. This pension scheme is an updated version of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) implemented in 2004. In 2004, the then BJP government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee implemented the National Pension Scheme. After this, all the government and non-government employees of the country started opposing this pension scheme. The main reason for the opposition to NPS was that this scheme was subject to the stock market.
Why did UPS come?
Given the opposition of employees to the National Pension Scheme, a committee was formed in April this year under the leadership of former Finance Secretary Dr. Somnath to brainstorm on the problems of employees related to NPS. The committee talked with almost all the states and labor organizations. Only after this entire process, the committee recommended the Unified Pension Scheme, which was approved by the government last Saturday.
Why should government employees adopt UPS?
How is this pension scheme different from the old pension scheme NPS? If it is different, then how different is it? And why should employees adopt this pension scheme? This is the question that almost every employee wants to know at this time. On this whole issue, IANS wanted to know from the experts why should employees leave NPS and adopt UPS.
This is the reason why NPS was opposed
Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary of Eastern Railway Men's Union (NRMU) in All India Railway Federation (AERF), jokingly says that NPS was a 'no pension scheme'. NPS was a contributory scheme, in which the money of the employees was invested in the market. No one knew much about it. This scheme depended on the ups and downs of the market. Under this scheme, people get only ₹ 800, ₹ 1000, ₹ 1500 and ₹ 2000 rupees as pension.
He further says, "The employees did not like the NPS scheme at all, that is why there were so many agitations by the employees. NPS was a completely different scheme from UPS. There was no guarantee of a fixed pension to any employee in NPS. Therefore, there is no comparison between UPS and NPS in any respect.
How different is UPS from OPS?
On how the Unified Pension Scheme is different from the Old Pension Scheme, Shiv Gopal Mishra says that the Unified Pension Scheme is a contributory scheme, whereas in the Old Pension Scheme, there was no contribution from the employees, it was based on their service period.
UPS is even better than OPS
Apart from this, in the case of family pension, Shiv Gopal Mishra considers the Unified Pension Scheme to be better than the Old Pension Scheme. He says, "In the Old Pension Scheme which was in existence till 2004, the family pension was payable at the rate of only 40 percent of the total pension of the person, but in the Old Pension Scheme it has been increased to 60 percent. This is a very good step by the government. This will greatly benefit the employees and their families."
Is this pension scheme so good that employees should remove NPS and update themselves to UPS? On this question, he says that almost all the employees will give preference to this pension scheme over NPS and will shift to it. Employees will suffer a lot from NPS because, with the increase in inflation, there will be no increase in NPS pension, which will cause a lot of loss to the employees. "
These are the benefits available at UPS
He further says, "Dearness allowance is very important on pension amount. Because if this is not done, the market price will increase, but the pension will not increase, which will end neutrality. After which, later on, the employees will come to the brink of starvation. Keeping this in mind, this is 100 percent a very good decision."
However, will the government be able to calm the issue of restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, which is going on in many states of the country, by increasing its contribution to UPS to 18.5 percent and talking about all the pension holders? Because many opposition parties promise to restore the Old Pension Scheme in every election. On this question, he says, “After the decision of the central government, the state government will also be forced to implement the Unified Pension Scheme. Even though the state government has talked about implementing the old pension scheme, no government has implemented it yet. Implementing UPS will be a very good thing because it is a very good scheme and employees will get a lot of benefit from it.
