Maharashtra govt approves unified pension scheme: first state to make such announcement, polls to be held in October-November

The Maharashtra government has announced the implementation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) in the state. Two days ago i.e. on August 24, the central government brought UPS by revising the New Pension Scheme (NPS). UPS will be implemented from April 1, 2025. The central government said that if the state governments want, they can also adopt it. After which the Shinde government of Maharashtra approved it on Sunday (August 25). Maharashtra has become the first state to implement this central scheme in its state. As per the decision of the Maharashtra Cabinet, UPS will be implemented from March this year and all state government employees will benefit from it. The term of the Maharashtra Assembly ends in November and elections are likely to be held in October-November. How is UPS different from New Pension Scheme? Asked how the scheme differs from the New Pension Scheme and the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), TV Somnath, OSD at the Union Secretariat replied, UPS is a fully contributory funded scheme. (ie, even in this the employees have to contribute 10% of basic pay + DA like NPS.) Whereas the old pension scheme was an unfunded contributory scheme. (In this, employees did not have to make any contribution.) But like NPS, we have guaranteed a fixed pension instead of leaving it at the mercy of the market. UPS combines the advantages of both OPS and NPS. In NPS, the employee has to contribute 10% of his basic pay + DA and the government contributes 14%. The government will now increase this contribution to 18.5%. There will be no change in the 10% share of the employee. Somanathan said that under NPS, the employees who have retired since 2004 and those who will retire between now and March 2025 will also get the benefit. The payment will be made after adjusting the money they have already received or withdrawn from the fund. If the government's contribution is increased from 14% to 18.5%, there will be an additional expenditure of Rs 6250 crore in the first year. This cost will increase every year. 3 reasons to implement UPS in Maharashtra…

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