Chhattisgarh signal excites seekers of OPS in Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: Since Chhattisgarh, a fellow Congress-governed state, has notified the OPS (old pension scheme), it’s clear that Himachal Pradesh will also implement it to give the employees hired between November 1, 2004, and March 31, 2022, a one-time option to remain in NPS or opt for the OPS.

Taking lessons from the Rajasthan experience, Chhattisgarh made the OPS optional in Chhattisgarh, while the government servants appointed on April 1, 2022, and later will be compulsory subscribers of the OPS, and their GPF (general provident fund) accounts will also be opened. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had decided to take the Chhattisgarh formula for restoring the OPS in the first cabinet meeting on January 13.

An office memorandum came out recently, while a response from the central government is awaited. The Himachal Pradesh government will have to decide the date from which the GPF accounts are to be opened. The employees migrating from the NPS to the OPS will have to transfer to state its entire NPS contribution, besides the amount withdrawn and dividend earned. They will be taken into the OPS only after surrendering this money.

Already, Himachal Pradesh chief secretary Prabodh Saxena has instructed the finance department to prepare a standard operating procedure for OPS implementation and written again to the central government, which had refused to return the state’s contribution. It will be seen how the Chhattisgarh notification fits Himachal Pradesh’s 1.36 lakh employees.

Chhattisgarh’s pension payment applies to those government servants and their nominees (in case of death) who have signed up for the OPS, are eligible for pension under the rules, and have given their consent for the adjustment of government’s contribution payable to the government and the dividend earned thereon from gratuity, leave encashment, and group insurance.