Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday announced that the state government has adopted the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), a modified version of the National Pension System (NPS) recently introduced by the Centre.
"In NPS, the government contribution was 10 per cent, but now under UPS, it will increase to 18.5 per cent. The state government has adopted the same scheme as that of the central government employees. Now, the same benefit will be extended to state government employees as well," Sarma said.
He added that existing employees will get a one-year window to either continue with NPS or opt for UPS. "If someone adopts UPS, their accumulated contribution in NPS will be automatically transferred to the UPS account," Sarma explained.
"With the adoption of this scheme, I believe the debate between NPS and OPS has finally come to an end," Sarma said.
UPS applies to the government employees who are covered under the National Pension System (NPS) and choose this option under NPS, which came into effect on January 1, 2004.
In August last year, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved UPS. Under the old pension scheme, which ended in January 2004, employees got 50 per cent of their last drawn basic pay as pension. Unlike the OPS, UPS is contributory in nature, wherein employees will be required to contribute 10 per cent of their basic salary and dearness allowance, while the employer's contribution will be 18.5 per cent.
Adoption of UPS makes Assam one of the first states to align its pension policy with the national framework.
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