Big news for 69 lakh pensioners, why are employees giving priority to OPS instead of NPS:

News India Live, Digital Desk: Minister of State for Finance in Rajya Sabha on 10 March 2026 Pankaj Chaudhary According to the statement given by the Central Government, the Central Government currently has approx. 50.14 lakh Are employees. But when it comes to pension, there is a huge difference. As per the data, there is only 1 NPS pensioner for every 139 OPS pensioners.

1. Mathematics of Data (The Big Gap)

2. Why are employees giving priority to OPS? (Key Reasons)

According to employee unions and experts, there are 3 major reasons behind the popularity of OPS:

fixed income: In OPS, it is fixed to get 50% of the last basic salary as pension after retirement, whereas NPS is completely dependent on the fluctuations of the stock market.

Dearness Relief: In OPS, Dearness Allowance (DA) increases twice a year, due to which the pension amount also increases. There is no such system in NPS.

Zero Contribution: For OPS, there are no deductions from the employee’s salary (wholly funded by the government), whereas in NPS, the employee has to contribute 10% of his basic salary.

3. Government’s ‘middle path’: Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)

In view of the increasing demand for OPS and opposition to NPS, the Central Government Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) The option of:

Guaranteed Pension: Average basic pay of last 12 months after 25 years of service 50% Will be given as pension.

Minimum Pension: At least after 10 years of service ₹10,000 Guaranteed per month.

Option: Employees can choose either NPS or UPS as per their convenience.

4. Warning from states and CAG

While states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab have restored OPS as per election promises, CAG has warned in its report that returning to the old pension could prove to be a ‘fiscal disaster’ for the financial condition of the states as it would put a huge burden of debt on the coming generations.