CHANDIGARH, Nov 18: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today said that the State Cabinet has approved the reimplementation of the old pension scheme, which was discontinued in 2004.
In another decision of the Cabinet, a meeting of which was held here under his chairmanship, Mann said a notification to fix sugarcane rate at Rs 380 per quintal has also been approved.
Asked about the Old Pension Scheme, Mann, who was addressing a news conference after the Cabinet meeting, said, “OPS has been approved by the cabinet. Details will be given. Many employees will be benefited under the Old Pension Scheme. Notification has been issued.”
An official statement said the decision will directly benefit more than 1.75 lakh Government employees.
In order to ensure that the scheme remains financially sustainable for the exchequer in future also, the State Government will be contributing proactively towards creation of a pension corpus which will keep on serving the pensioners.
The contribution towards the pension corpus will be Rs 1,000 crore per annum initially and will gradually be increased.
In addition to this, the current accumulated corpus with the New Pension Scheme, or, NPS, is Rs 16,746 crore, which the state government will request the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), a central body, to refund.
The Old Pension Scheme, under which the entire pension amount was given by the Government, was discontinued in the country from April 1, 2004.
According to the new scheme, employees contribute 10 per cent of their basic salary towards pension while the State Government contributes 14 per cent.
The AAP Government’s decision came days before Gujarat Assembly polls, where AAP is trying its luck and had promised to restore the Old Pension Scheme for State Government employees if voted to power.
In the Cabinet meeting held nearly a month ago, the Punjab Government had decided to restore the scheme for its employees, which has been their major demand. State Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema had last month said employees will be given the option to join the Old Pension Scheme.
“The State Government has approved the Old Pension Scheme for its employees currently covered under New Pension Scheme (NPS) thereby fulfilling a long pending demand of employees of the State.
“This will directly benefit more than 1.75 lakh Government employees currently covered under NPS. In addition to this, 1.26 lakh employees are already covered under the existing Old Pension Scheme,” said the official statement issued after Friday’s Cabinet meeting.
The scheme is expected to benefit more than 4,100 employees in the next five years alone.
The scheme is aimed at safeguarding the future of Government employees and recognising their immense contribution towards the State, it said.(PTI)
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