3,454 retired employees eligible for old pension in Rajasthan: RTI

JAIPUR: Out of 5.68 lakh government employees in Rajasthan, appointed on or after January 1, 2004, 3,454 have already retired as on April 30, 2022, and are waiting for benefits under the old pension scheme (OPS), an RTI reply received from state insurance and provident fund department has revealed. The old pension scheme (OPS) was restored in Rajasthan from April 1, 2022.
The RTI was filed by Vinod Kumar, state coordinator of New Pension Scheme Employees’ Federation of Rajasthan (NPSEFR).
However, due to centre’s delay in release of New Pension Scheme (NPS) funds amounting to Rs 41,000 crore (employees’ contribution and state government’s contribution), which was deposited in the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) up to February this year, these retired employees are deprived of pension under OPS as NPS has been withdrawn by the state government from April 1, 2022.
Of the total subscribers (5.68 lakh), 3238 have already died, the RTI reply stated. Several letters have been written to the centre by the state government to release the NPS funds.
The State Insurance and Provident Fund department in a communication dated July 7 has listed several reasons for the delay in implementation of OPS in the state. It stated that letters were being written to Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) by the state government to transfer the consolidated pension amount of the retired employees deposited in the NPS to the budget item of the state government. However, It is likely to take time to receive the amount from PFRDA, it stated. Second, the pension amount of retired employees to be received from the NPS trust will be deposited in the revenue item of the state. For this, a portal or system is being created by the state.
“The state government will save nearly Rs 10,000 crore per year by stopping deductions under NPS from March this year. This amount will go up to around Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the next 10 years,” said Vinod Kumar. “While the state government has implemented OPS for employees appointed on or after January 1, 2004, the pension liability will be borne only from April 1, 2022. We are also demanding that the state government should bear the liability from January 1, 2004. The centre should immediately release state government employees’ deposited money in NSDL amounting to Rs 41,000 crore,” he added.
Arvind Kumar Meratwal, a senior secondary school teacher from Ajmer, who retired on February 28 this year, said, “The old pension scheme has not been implemented in the state yet. I thought OPS would be implemented, that’s why I didn’t withdraw money from the NPS fund. I joined government service in 2005 after clearing teacher’s recruitment exam. Why is the state government taking so long to release our pension? It will anyway get the consolidated amount from the centre at some point in time. But, it should release our pension without further delay.”