Old Pension Scheme: The Hemant government of Jharkhand has given a Holi gift to more than 1.62 lakh government employees working in Jharkhand and lakhs of retired pensioner government employees. In the annual budget presented for the financial year 2025-26 on Monday, the government has made a provision to spend about ₹832 crore on the old pension scheme.
This move of the government will benefit more than 1.62 lakh government employees and retired pensioner employees and their families. This decision is an important step to provide financial security to the employees.
Economic security for employees
In his budget speech in the Assembly, Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore said that the pension fund has been constituted to reduce the financial burden of the old pension scheme so that a secure economic source can be ensured by keeping the employees of Jharkhand away from financial risks on retirement.
For this, ₹700 crore was invested in the pension fund in the year 2023-24 and ₹780 crore in 2024-25. An investment of ₹832 crore is proposed in the financial year 2025-26. This fund will play an important role in securing the future of the employees.
What is the Old Pension Scheme
The old pension scheme is a retirement benefit scheme for government employees in India. The central government has discontinued it from January 1, 2004, and implemented the New Pension Scheme (NPS) in its place, but the old pension scheme is still applicable in Jharkhand.
Under the old pension scheme, the government employee does not have to make any contribution from his salary. After retirement, employees get 50% of their last salary as a pension. Apart from this, pensioners get the benefit of an increase in dearness allowance (DA).
After the death of the employee, his dependents get a pension and the employee gets a pension for life, which keeps his financial condition stable. This scheme keeps the employees financially secure even after retirement.
1,62,931 government employees in Jharkhand will get the benefit
About 1,62,931 government employees of Jharkhand will benefit from the old pension scheme of the government. Apart from this, more than 1.58 lakh pensioner government employees will also benefit from this move of the government.
According to media report, in the financial year 2024-25, the total number of sanctioned posts in the Jharkhand government was 3,26,049, out of which 1,58,846 posts were vacant and 1,67,203 posts were occupied by employees.
The state government has launched a health insurance scheme for employees from March 1, 2025. This will benefit 1,62,931 employees and their dependents. This scheme will help in securing the health of the employees.