However, Professionals’ Congress chairman Praveen Chakravarty appeared to strike a divergent note from his party and said the introduction of the scheme was “welcome and prudent”.”Pension for govt staff in India is inherently a tax on the majority poor to pay the elite minority. So, OPS was reformed to NPS in 2013. But NPS did not assure a minimum amount for retired families,” Chakravarty said in a post on X.”Now, UPS does that UPS = NPS + Minimum guarantee. This is prudent & welcome,” he said.Though Chakravarty’s X account is not verified, several top Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, follow it.The Union Cabinet on Saturday 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 a long-pending demand of government employees ahead of assembly elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.Employees opting for the UPS would be eligible for an assured pension of 50 per cent of the average basic pay drawn over the last 12 months before superannuation for a minimum qualifying service of 25 years.This pay is to be proportionate for a lesser service period up to a minimum of 10 years of service, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.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 will benefit 23 lakh central government employees, Vaishnaw said, adding that the number would rise to 90 lakh if state governments want to join the scheme.
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