On Pension Row, Nirmala Sitharaman's Sharp Counter To Congress' "U-Turn" Jab

The Finance Minister criticised the Congress for failing to understand the UPS is not a rollback to the pre-2004 pension plan, and that it will improve the current National Pension System.

Finance Minister on Tuesday joined the government's pushback against the Congress's "government of U-turns" jibe over the Unified Pension Scheme, or UPS, proposal. "We are not a government of U-turns... we give flexible, choice-driven governance," she shot back.

The Finance Minister criticised the Congress for failing to understand the UPS is not a rollback to the pre-2004 pension plan, and that it will improve the current National Pension System, or NPS. She also hit out at non-BJP ruled states, saying, "I feel UPS will be implemented sooner or later..."

However, ministry sources told NDTV the government would not "market" the new pension scheme to states unwilling to adopt it; there is no compulsion to do so, sources explained.