There are more than 67.95 lakh central government pensioners, including defence pensioners, as of March 31, 2023, the finance ministry revealed on Monday. The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare collected and furnished the data based on the database maintained by the Central Pension Accounting Office, Controller General of Defence Accounts, Ministry of Railways, Department of Telecommunication, and Department of Posts.
The data revealed that the total number of central government pensioners stood at 67,95,449, as of March 31, 2023, Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, said in the Lok Sabha, reported PTI. Out of the overall number, civil pensioners stood at 11.42 lakh, while defence pensioners included more than 33.87 lakh. The number of telecom and postal pensioners stood at more than 4.38 lakh and 3.01 lakh respectively, while railway pensioners were more than 15.25 lakh, as of March 2023.
Replying about the government considering restoring the old pension scheme (OPS) for central government employees, Chaudhary said that no such proposal is being considered. He informed that a committee has been formed with the Finance Secretary as the chairman to oversee the issue of pensions under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) with regards to government employees and to determine whether any revisions are required in the existing framework and structure of the NPS.
Chaudhary revealed that the state governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have conveyed their decision to the central government or the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) that they would opt for the Old Pension Scheme for their state government employees.
“These State Governments have requested for withdrawal/ refund of contribution along with return thereon. However, the Government of Punjab has also informed the Government of India that it continues to pay staff and Government contributions to the NPS. There is no provision under the PFRDA Act, 2013, and other relevant regulations, vide which the accumulated corpus of the subscribers viz. government contribution, employees' contribution towards NPS, along with accruals, can be refunded and deposited back to the state governments,” the minister added.
Notably, under the OPS, retired government employees receive half of their last drawn salary as their monthly pensions. This amount keeps increasing in line with the hike in the dearness allowance rates. However, the pension system is not sustainable fiscally as it is not contributory, and the burden keeps piling up on the exchequer. NPS has been implemented for all government employees, apart from those in the armed forces joining the central government on or after January 1, 20224. A majority of the state/union territory governments have informed the NPS of their new employees.
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