Centre unfurls unified pension scheme

POLL SOP - It will benefit 23 lakh employees and the announcement comes ahead of the assembly elections

- Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) under which nearly 2.3 million central government employees will receive 50 per cent of their last drawn basic salary as pension.

Announcing the salient features of the scheme, Union Minister Ashwini Vaisnav said there are three key pillars of the UPS. He said the pension scheme assures 50 per cent of the average basic salary for the last 12 months before retirement as pension for government employees who have completed a minimum of 25 years in service. This pay will be proportionate for a lesser service period up to a minimum of 10 years of service.