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Himachal CM seeks return of money deposited for New Pension Scheme from Centre
The Himachal Pradesh government has written to the Centre asking for a refund of the money deposited for the New Pension Scheme, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced on Wednesday.
The Himachal Pradesh government has written to the Centre asking for a refund of the money deposited for the New Pension Scheme (NPS), chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced on Wednesday, moving another step closer to fulfilling the poll promise of reinstating the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
Himachal Pradesh has sought ₹7,500 crore from the Centre, according to an official in the financial department who is aware of the contents of the letter.
Reinstating OPS, which is more generous to government employees than NPS, was one of the main poll planks of the Congress, which won 40 of the state’s 68 seats in the recently concluded assembly elections.
A number of other states ruled by parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party, such as Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, have also moved towards restoring OPS (where inflation-indexed pension payouts are borne by the government, unlike in NPS, which is funded by the employer and employee both) but experts say that this will increase the fiscal burden on state governments.
“The state government is committed to providing OPS to employees in the very first cabinet meeting. The Congress has given 10 guarantees to the people of the state in its manifesto during the general assembly elections recently and the government would implement all these guarantees in a phased manner,” said Sukhu while addressing a delegation of NPS employees in Shimla.
The number of government employees in the state is 225,000, of which 150,000 fall under NPS. Government employees in Himachal have been constantly demanding the reinstatement of OPS.
Earlier this month, the Union government told the Lok Sabha there was no proposal being considered to restore to OPS and clarified that there were no provisions to refund contribution in NPS, along with accruals, back to state governments.
In a written reply, minister of state for finance Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad said the governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand informed the central government and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) about their decision to restart OPS for their state government employees.
The ministry also underlined that PFRDA, India’s pension regulator, has informed the respective state governments “that there is no provision under Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 read along with PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the National Pension System) Regulations, 2015, and other relevant regulations that the funds, which are already deposited both in the form of government contribution and employees’’ contribution towards NPS, along with accruals, can be refunded and deposited back to the state government.”
