VIJAYAWADA: Will the Andhra Pradesh government adopt the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) approved by the Union Cabinet? Employees being covered under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the State are of the opinion that the State government may not adopt the UPS as it is nothing but another version of the Guaranteed Pension Scheme (GPS) rolled out by the previous YSRC regime.
“As the TDP-led NDA government has put the orders related to the GPS in abeyance, we are not sure that it will adopt the UPS,” said AP CPS Employees Association (APCPSEA) State president Korukonda Satish, adding that the UPS is nothing but GPS 2.0.
Speaking to TNIE, Satish said except adopting the CPS when the Centre came up with the National Pension System (NPS), the State government did not follow any subsequent amendments like increase in the contribution of the government to 14%. The contribution of CPS employees and the State government have remained at 10% each, while for the Central staff, the share of contribution of the Centre is 14% and that of NPS employees is 10%.
Though it is seen as an attractive offer for the employees covered under the NPS as the Centre has announced to increase the government’s contribution to 18.5% under the UPS besides ensuring a pension equivalent to 50% of the employees salary, the CPS employees are of the view that it will only benefit the corporate sector and it will be burden to the Centre without any benefit to the employees.
The Centre will increase its contribution and the same along with the contribution of employees will be invested in share market. There is no guarantee on the returns. Thus, there is no use for the employees with the Centre increasing its contribution. It may help those having less service, the APCPSEA leaders felt.
Making it clear that they are against any pension scheme except restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, APCPSEA president Satish and general secretary CM Das asserted that if the State government mulls to adopt the UPS, they are ready to put forth their objections.
“As of now, we have got an assurance from the coalition government that it will find an amicable solution to the CPS employees, and we are waiting for a decision from the government,” they said.
APCPSEA honorary advisor Rongala Appala Raju said under NPS (CPS in the States), the employees will be given 60% of the total contribution (both by the government and employees) after retirement, and the remaining 40% will be invested in markets and the returns will be given as pension. But in the UPS, there is no provision of the employees getting back 60% contribution, he explained.
Similarly, there are instances of the State government not making its contribution for some months and also diverting the money contributed by the CPS employees for other purposes, he said, adding that they only demand pension without any contribution by the employees.