More than 136,000 employees of Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) are expected to benefit from the newly announced Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) by the Union Government, officials confirmed on Monday. The Narendra Modi-led government approved the UPS on Saturday for central government employees who joined service after January 1, 2004.

Under the new scheme, employees currently enrolled in the National Pension Scheme (NPS) can opt for UPS, which offers an assured pension amounting to 50% of the average basic pay drawn over the last 12 months before retirement. The minimum qualifying service for this benefit has been set at 25 years. 

Central Railway, with 96,039 employees, has 70,778 NPS subscribers—about 73.69% of its workforce—who stand to gain from the new scheme, according to CR General Manager Ram Karan Yadav.

Western Railway General Manager Ashok Kumar Mishra also highlighted that of WR's 96,000 employees, around 66,000, or 70%, are NPS subscribers who will benefit from UPS. He made these comments during a media interaction at Churchgate.

Officials noted that the UPS, unlike NPS, is not market-linked, which eliminates the uncertainty regarding the pension amount—an issue that has been a primary concern for employees. The government or employer contribution under UPS has been increased to 18.5%, up from the current 14% under NPS, potentially leading to a financial burden on the zonal railways.

Currently, Central Railway contributes Rs 455 million per month for all NPS-covered employees, while WR contributes Rs 420 million. Employees will have the option to choose between NPS and UPS once detailed guidelines are issued by the railway board. The UPS is scheduled for implementation from April 1, 2025, and is expected to benefit 230,000 central government employees.

(ET)