.jpg?width=1200)
Mumbai: More than 1.36 lakh employees of the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) are expected to benefit from the newly announced Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) by the Union Government, railway officials confirmed on Monday.
During a media interaction on Monday at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Ram Karan Yadav, General Manager of Central Railway, stated that out of the current 96,039 employees in CR, 70,778—or 73.69%—are subscribers to the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and are likely to benefit from the UPS.
Similarly, Ashok Kumar Mishra, General Manager of Western Railway, revealed during a media session on Monday at Churchgate that around 66,000 of the 96,000 employees in WR, or about 70%, are NPS subscribers who stand to benefit from the UPS. "The majority of Western Railway employees will benefit from the UPS," Mishra noted.
The UPS, recently approved by the Narendra Modi-led central government, is designed for central government employees who joined after January 1, 2004. Under this scheme, employees opting out of the NPS will be eligible for an assured pension amounting to 50% of their average basic pay over the last 12 months before retirement, provided they have completed a minimum of 25 years of service. The scheme is set to be implemented from April 1, 2025, and is expected to benefit approximately 23 lakh central government employees.
Central Railway officials highlighted that unlike the NPS, the UPS is not market-linked, which addresses current concerns regarding the uncertainty of pension amounts under the NPS.
The government or employer contribution under the UPS will increase to 18.5% from the current 14% under the NPS, which may lead to a financial burden on the zonal railways. Currently, Central Railway contributes about 45.5 crores per month for all NPS-covered employees, while Western Railway requires around 42 crores monthly.
Railway officials stated that all NPS subscribers will be given the option to choose between the NPS and UPS once further details are provided by the railway board.
