Committee constituted to review the National Pension System for government employees

Tags: committee

The Finance Ministry on 6 April constituted a four-member committee headed by Finance Secretary T V Somanathan to review the pension system for government employees under the National Pension System (NPS).

An overview of the news

• Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Special Secretary, Department of Expenditure and Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) will be members of the committee.

• The committee will suggest whether any changes are necessary in the existing structure of the National Pension System (NPS) applicable to government employees.

• The committee will suggest modifications with a view to improve the pensionary benefits of government employees covered under NPS, keeping in view the fiscal implications and the overall budgetary impact.

• The announcement comes in the backdrop of several non-BJP states seeking restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and employees' unions in some other states demanding the same.

• The state governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have requested to return the accumulated funds under NPS while notifying the Center about their decision to restore the old pension scheme.

• Under the OPS, retired government employees received 50 per cent of their last drawn salary as monthly pensions.