Himachal cabinet to take call on Unified Pension Scheme: Vikramaditya
The statement comes after the state received a letter from the Centre, asking for implementation of UPS and assuring financial assistance of ₹1,600 crore
Himachal Pradesh public works minister Vikramaditya Singh said on Monday that the cabinet will take a call on whether to implement the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) or not.
“Whether to implement UPS or not will be discussed in the cabinet meeting. The profit and loss of the employees will be taken into consideration. Whatever reduces the financial burden on the state will be considered,” he said.
The statement comes after the state received a letter from the Centre, asking for implementation of UPS and assuring financial assistance of ₹1,600 crore.
UPS has been launched by the Centre with the aim of providing stable pension to government employees based on length of service and last withdrawn salary. Under the scheme, 10% of the salary and dearness allowance (DA) will be given for every six months of service as a one-time payment at the time of retirement.
Vikramaditya added, “There was no UPS when the Old Pension Scheme (UPS) was implemented. The Centre has now implemented UPS, and we will take a decision after discussions. Our aim is to look after the interests of the employees.”
He said ₹9,000 crore of HP employees are stuck with Centre and the personnel department is constantly in touch with them.
“The Centre should also not link everything to politics. We are living in a federal structure. The state and the Centre each have their own rights,” he added.
The Centre has repeatedly written letters to the Himachal government, asking it to implement UPS. The Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government has already reinstated the OPS.
From the time when the New Pension Scheme (NPS) was in force, ₹9,000 crore deposited by employees hired between 2003 and 2023 have been stuck with the Centre. After the state’s move to reinstate NPS, the Centre also stopped grants given in lieu of NPS.