Punjab cabinet approves Old Pension Scheme, issues notification, says CM Bhagwant Mann

On Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the state cabinet has approved the reimplementation of the old pension scheme, which was discontinued in 2004.

Asked about the Old Pension Scheme, Mann, who was addressing a news conference after the cabinet meeting, said, "OPS has been approved by the cabinet. Details will be given. Many employees will be benefited from the old pension scheme. A notification has been issued."

An official statement said the decision will directly benefit more than 1.75 lakh government employees.

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To ensure that the scheme remains financially sustainable for the exchequer in the future also, the state government will be contributing proactively towards the creation of a pension corpus that will keep on serving the pensioners.

The contribution towards the pension corpus will be Rs 1,000 crore per annum initially and will gradually be increased.

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In addition to this, the current accumulated corpus with the New Pension Scheme, or, NPS, is Rs 16,746 crore, which the state government will request the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), a central body, to refund.

The old pension scheme, under which the entire pension amount was given by the government, was discontinued in the country on April 1, 2004.

According to the new scheme, employees contribute 10 percent of their basic salary towards their pension while the state government contributes 14 percent.

The AAP government's decision came days before the Gujarat Assembly polls, where AAP is trying its luck and had promised to restore the old pension scheme for state government employees if voted to power.