8th Pay Commission: How Gazette provision on NPS and UPS differ from employees' demands

What the Gazette notification says

• To review the Death-cum-Retirement Gratuity of employees borne on the National Pension System (including the Unified Pension Scheme) and make recommendations thereon.

• To review the Death-cum-Retirement Gratuity and pensions of employees not borne on the National Pension System (including the Unified Pension Scheme) and make recommendations thereon, keeping in view the unfunded cost of non-contributory pension schemes.

What employees demand

The employees, as well as pensioner's groups, are demanding a complete rollback of National Pension System (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). Instead, they want the return of the old pension scheme, which was a non-contributory scheme with defined pension benefits.

• The Government's decision to replace the Defined and Non-Contributory Pension Scheme by NPS to those employees who joined Central Government service on or after 01.01.2004 is not only going backwards but an illegal step in the light of the Supreme Court ruling that the Pension is as good as right to property and is enforceable.

• The NPS has already made social security in old age uncertain and dependent on Market forces. The scheme has been compulsorily imposed on a section of the Central Government Employees and it is discriminatory.

• The subsequent UPS introduced by the Government w.e.f. 01.04.2025 was also rejected by the Central Government Employees. Out of more than 26 lakhs NPS employees only 1.22 lakhs (around 4.5%) migrated to UPS.

"Therefore, there is no justification in continuing with NPS / UPS and we propose that NPS/UPS may not be made applicable to the Central Government Employees and all those who have been covered under NPS / UPS may be reverted back to Defined and Non-Contributory Statutory Pension Scheme (OPS) under the CCS Pension Rules 1972 (now 2021),'' the Staff Side said.

What retirees say

Many retirees also want the government to offer guaranteed minimum pension provisions like OPS.

"To ensure maximum social security, long-term predictability, and structural equity across generations of public servants, the Old Pension Scheme should be restored for personnel who joined service after 2004," Railways Senior Citizens Welfare Society (RSCWS) said.

"Many employees have expressed concerns regarding the long-term financial security under contributory pension systems. There is a need for stronger safeguards to ensure predictable and adequate pension benefits after retirement. Adequate government contribution, guaranteed minimum pension provisions, and transparent fund management are essential to protect the interests of employees and retirees," they added.