Central Government Rejects Demand for Old Pension Scheme Restoration

Despite the requests from major central government employee organisations for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) from the 8th Pay Commission, the central government has stated in Parliament that no such plans are under consideration.

In response to a question from R Girirajan, a member of Parliament, during the Rajya Sabha session on July 23, 2026, regarding the government’s intentions to bring back the OPS for central government employees, Shobha Kanadlaje, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, confirmed that according to Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, no such proposal is being considered.

A number of key central government employee bodies have been demanding the revival of the OPS from the 8th Pay Commission. In their respective memorandums submitted to the 8th CPC, employee bodies including the National Council of the Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), the Federation of National Postal Organisations (FNPO), the All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF), the All India NPS Employees Federation (AINPSEF) and the Indian Railways Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) have aggressively sought revival of the OPS.

Their main concern is that employees who joined their job late and are low rung in the official hierarchy, are left with a meagre monthly pension under the NPS. These bodies argue that only the OPS can give such employees a respectable pension and a source to sustain.

In its memorandum submitted to the 8th Pay Commission, NC-JCM, wrote that the government’s decision to replace the defined and non-contributory pension scheme (OPS) with the NPS for those employees who joined central government service on or after January 1, 2004, is illegal in light of the Supreme Court ruling that pension is as good as right to property and is enforceable.

“The NPS has already made social security in old age uncertain and dependent on market forces. The scheme has been compulsorily imposed on a section of central government employees, and it is discriminatory,” said NC-JCM.

The key employee body had also raised objection regarding the implementation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which the central government advertised as a mix of the NPS and the OPS. The UPS is a contributory scheme where central government employees get assured pension on completion of at least 10 years of service.

NC-JCM wrote in its memorandum to the 8th Pay Commission: “Out of more than 26 lakh NPS employees, only 1.22 lakh (around 4.5%) migrated to the UPS. Therefore, there is no justification in continuing with NPS/UPS and we propose that all those who have been covered under NPS/UPS may be reverted back to defined and non-contributory statutory pension scheme (OPS) under the CCS Pension Rules 1972 (now 2021).”

The central government implemented the NPS for central government employees on January 1, 2004. Following it, most states also implemented the NPS. However, some states such as Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which had implemented the NPS, had reverted to the OPS subsequently.

Since 2004, many employee bodies across India have been continuously demanding that the OPS should be restored. However, the central government, time and again has denied having any such proposals.