There is great news for Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) subscribers. Central government employees opting for UPS will now be entitled to retirement and death gratuity benefits which were earlier available under the Old Pension Scheme. Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh has confirmed that the central government employees under UPS will get retirement and death gratuity benefits as per the Central Civil Services (Payment of Gratuity under National Pension System) Rules, 2021.

The Union Minister said that all the central employees included in the UPS will now get the benefit of retirement and death gratuity under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

Government employees have been demanding for a long time.
Let us tell you that a large section of government employees has been demanding this for a long time. The Union Minister said that this step meets the essential demand of government employees and brings parity in retirement benefits. The new provision reflects the government's commitment to ensure social security for all categories of employees under the National Pension Scheme (NPS).

Retirement and death gratuity benefits to central employees under UPS
The DoPPW (Department of Pension and Pensioners) on Wednesday issued a separate order confirming that central government employees under UPS are eligible for retirement and death gratuity benefits as per the Central Civil Services (Payment of Gratuity under National Pension System) Rules, 2021.

DoPPW Secretary V Srinivas told PTI, "This order gives an employee the option to return to OPS in case of death during service. This decision of the government brings parity between NPS and OPS pensioners and such employees will also be eligible for a gratuity of Rs 25 lakh.

Let us tell you that till now, if an employee dies or becomes disabled after opting for UPS, then there was no way to deal with that situation. But after the new instructions of the government, this will not happen now.

Employees can turn to UPS.
All India NPS Employee Federation President Manjeet Singh Patel expressed happiness over this order and called it an important and necessary initiative of the government. According to him, the inclusion of death-cum-retirement gratuity in UPS will help the employees a lot. Therefore, now many employees will opt for UPS.

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