OPS Update: The Central Government has clearly refused to implement OPS. Not only this, the states where it is being implemented have been told clearly that the money of the ‘NPS’ workers is deposited with the PFRDA. That money will not be given to the state government.
A big update has come out regarding the old pension. The Central Government has decided to give old pension to some jawans and officers in CRPF. All these jawans and officers are currently covered under NPS. The special thing is that when these personnel join OPS, their NPS account will also be transferred. That is, all these personnel will move away from NPS and join GPF.
On the other hand, the central government has clearly refused to implement the old pension system ‘OPS’. Not only this, in the non-BJP government states where it is being implemented, it has been clearly stated that the money of ‘NPS’ personnel is deposited with the ‘Pension Fund and Regulatory Authority’ (PFRDA). PFRDA is controlled by the central government. That money will not be given to the state government. On the other hand, now the Central Government is converting the NPS account of the personnel who are included in the old pension system into GPF.
According to sources, CRPF has informed all its zones that those personnel will be inducted from NPS to OPS, whose recruitment advertisement or notification was made before December 22, 2003. Many such personnel were subsequently absorbed in NPS for one reason or the other. The matter has also gone to the court regarding this.
The ADGs of all zones have been asked to prepare cases of such personnel by September 20, 2023, who fulfill the above condition. The final order in such cases will be issued by the appointing authority by September 30. That is, those personnel will join OPS from NPS. Meanwhile, NPS money will be withdrawn and deposited in GPF.
This process has to be completed in several steps. Many committees have been formed for this. These committees will scrutinize the service books and other records in their respective areas. Guidelines can be issued to any sector/office of CRPF by the appointed committee. Its purpose will be to speed up the work. In the said case the Appointing Authority/DDO can close the NPS account after the issue of the order.
After this the process of issuing GPF account number to the concerned employee/officer will start. Those personnel should be engaged in this, who have special experience in handling such cases. The cases related to CRPF’s Kadarpur Academy will be dealt with by the training sector. All the committees have been asked to complete their proceedings by September 20.
The money of ‘NPS’ workers in various states is deposited with the ‘Pension Fund and Regulatory Authority’ (PFRDA). PFRDA is controlled by the central government. Government employees in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh were assured of implementing OPS. Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan government had started a file to get back the money from PFRDA, but could not get success in that. Government employees in Chhattisgarh have deposited more than Rs 17 thousand crore in PFRDA. For the return of this amount, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to PM Modi. The state government has stopped taking the amount of employees’ share deposited in NPS.
In this matter, Mukesh Kumar, general secretary of the Indian Defense Labor Union, says, the money of NPS is under the control of the central government. On the other hand, many states have announced the benefits of OPS to their personnel. Now the question arises as to how the money deposited by the workers in NPS, which is under the control of the Centre, will come back. If that money does not come back, then it will put an additional burden on the state government’s exchequer. What will be the disposal of that money in the government account is an important question.
The money deposited in NPS is invested in the market, some mechanism will have to be made for how to bring it back. The central government can give money to NPS, provided that for this the PFRDA Act will have to be amended. The central government should be prepared in this regard. The reason, in the coming time ‘OPS’ may be implemented in many other states as well. When both the ’employee and the employer’ want to opt out of NPS, the central government cannot ignore them.
