'U in UPS stands for...': Congress' dig at Centre's Unified Pension Scheme

The Congress on Sunday took a jibe at the Centre over its announcement of the Unified Pension Scheme, saying the 'U' in UPS stands for Modi government's "U-turns". The opposition party's swipe came a day after the Union Cabinet approved an assured pension of 50 per cent of salary for those who joined the service after January 1, 2004, under the National Pension System (NPS).

Fulfilling long pending demands of government employees ahead of assembly elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which assures guaranteed pension.

Taking a dig at the government, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The 'U' in UPS stands for Modi Govt's U turns! Post June 4, the power of the people has prevailed over the arrogance of power of the Prime Minister."

"Rollback in the budget regarding Long Term Capital Gain/Indexation. Sending Waqf Bill to JPC. Rollback of Broadcast Bill. Rollback of Lateral Entry," Kharge said.

"We will keep ensuring accountability and protect 140 crore Indians from this despotic government!" the Congress chief said in his post on X.

The new pension scheme also guarantees an assured minimum pension of Rs 10,000 per month on superannuation after a minimum of 10 years of service.

This option scheme will benefit 23 lakh central government employees, he said, adding that the number would rise to 90 lakh if state governments want to join the scheme.

Announcing other features of UPS, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said an assured family pension will be provided to the spouse of a deceased employee. In addition, there would be inflation indexation on assured pension, assured family pension, and assured minimum pension.

With the addition of all these features, it marks the transformation of the National Pension System (NPS), which promised pensions based on the contribution made by employees and the government.

The announcement came against the backdrop of several non-BJP states deciding to revert to the DA-linked Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and employee organisations in some other states raising demand for the same.

NPS has been implemented for all government employees except those in the armed forces joining the central government on or after January 1, 2004.

Under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), retired government employees received 50 per cent of their last drawn salary as monthly pensions. The amount keeps increasing with the hike in the DA rates. OPS is not fiscally sustainable as it is not contributory, and the burden on the exchequer keeps mounting.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)