Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced that the state government employees will now get the benefits of ‘UPS’ i.e. Unified Pension Scheme instead of ‘NPS’.
This scheme will be implemented for those state employees who are considered eligible for pension under the NPS system. Employees under NPS can choose to opt for UPS or continue with NPS.
The UPS system will be operational in the state from April 1, 2025. The state government has taken this decision after the Union Cabinet decided on August 24 to implement the UPS system for central government employees.
This information was given by the Chief Minister’s Office today after the decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held on Friday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mohan Majhi.
According to the information, this Unified Pension Scheme will be implemented in Odisha for state government employees. For a minimum qualifying service period of 25 years, a pension will be available at the rate of 50 per cent of the average basic salary earned in the 12 months before retirement. Pension will be available proportionally for the period of service starting from a minimum of 10 years and up to 25 years. Similarly, a family pension will be available at the rate of 60 per cent of the pension received by the employee before death. After retirement after completing a minimum of 10 years of service, a monthly pension of Rs. 10,000 will be available.
The guaranteed pension, guaranteed family pension and guaranteed minimum pension will be fixed in line with inflation. In the case of service employees, dearness assistance will be available based on the Consumer Price Index for industrial workers. After retirement, in addition to gratuity, a lump sum of one-tenth of the monthly salary drawn on the date of retirement for every complete 6 months will be available as a lump sum. The amount of guaranteed pension will not be reduced due to this amount. In the case of the death of a government employee after retirement in UPS, a guaranteed family pension benefit will be available, which was not available in NPS.
