Shimla, 23 December 2024: The central government has written to the Himachal Pradesh government, urging it to implement the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for state government employees. In return, the Centre has promised a special assistance of Rs 1,600 crore to the state.
The proposal suggests that government employees appointed on contract in 2022-23 and 2023-24 be included under the UPS, though the state government has not yet responded.
Currently, Himachal Pradesh has reverted to the old pension scheme, with the state having recently restored the old pension for 1.36 lakh government employees as part of its election guarantee.
Meanwhile, the Centre has yet to release Rs 9,000 crore to the state, funds deposited with the Centre by employees enrolled under the National Pension System (NPS). The state has been actively raising this issue, but the funds have not been received.
Himachal’s financial restrictions include a borrowing limit of Rs 6,600 crore and a cap on approval for new proposals from externally funded agencies, limited to Rs 2,944 crore until the financial year 2025-26.
It remains uncertain whether the state government will extend the UPS to new contractual employees or continue providing them with the old pension scheme.
