Employees of govt bodies formed after ’04 to be brought under OPS

Jaipur: The officials of the finance department assured representatives of the New Pension Scheme Employees’ Federation of Rajasthan (NPSEFR) on Friday that the employees of the autonomous bodies/government bodies/universities that came into existence after January 1, 2004, would also be brought under old pension scheme (OPS) soon. They also assured the employees that the number of installments for depositing money withdrawn by the state government employees under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) between April 1, 2022 and August 28, 2022, would be increased further. The state government had asked the employees to return the money in four installments.
“They have identified 75 universities that came into existence after January 1, 2004. Other autonomous bodies come under power and roadways sectors. They have made a proposal in this regard and have sent it to the higher authorities for approval,” said Vinod Kumar, state coordinator, New Pension Scheme Employees’ Federation of Rajasthan (NPSEFR).
The old pension scheme (OPS) was restored in Rajasthan from April 1. The finance department had issued a circular asking the state government employees who were appointed on and after January 1, 2004 and have withdrawn money under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) between April 1, 2022 and August 28, 2022 should return the money by depositing it in four installments by December 31, 2022. The order was issued on September 6. The old pension scheme (OPS) was restored in Rajasthan from April 1. Sources said nearly 80,000 employees in Rajasthan have so far withdrawn over Rs 600 crore they had contributed under NPS. The Centre has held up the release of NPS funds amounting to ₹41,000 crore (employees’ contribution and state government’s contribution), which was deposited in National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) up to February this year.