Employees' Body Seeks Latest Family Pension Norms For NPS Staff

The Centre and state government have implemented a share-market based pension system for their employees, including the ones in autonomous organisations since January 2004.

The Centre should extend its directive on the grant of family pension to all employees covered under the National Pension System (NPS) including the railways', a central and state governments staff body said on Thursday. Manjeet Singh Patel, the Delhi unit president of the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS), said the Ministry of Personnel, Public grievances and Pensions had in March issued the Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021 which are not applicable to all NPS employees. “We want it should be made applicable to all employees under the NPS, particularly those from the railways,” said Patel, who has been fighting for the scrapping of the new pension system and the restoration of the old one. The NMOPS has over 13 lakh central and state government employees as its members. Patel said the Centre and state government have implemented a share-market based pension system for their employees, including the ones in autonomous organisations since January 2004. He has also raised a request through the Centralized Public Grievance redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) – a website for lodging public grievances related to central government departments -- for implementing the Personnel Ministry's order for all categories of NPS employees. Responding to his grievance, authorities said, “Your suggestion has been noted. PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) is working on the same”. Echoing Patel's demand, Sushant Panda, the General Secretary of Western Railway Employees Committee for Movement for Old Pension Scheme, said the Central government should ensure that these rules apply to all categories of NPS employees so that they can take the benefit of different provision of family pension applicable to them.