The National Council–Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM) has urged the Centre to extend the benefit of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to a section of central government employees currently covered under the National Pension System (NPS).
The demand was raised during a meeting between the NC-JCM staff side and the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on September 3, 2026.
The employee body has sought recognition of vacancy-sanction letters issued before December 22, 2003, as a basis for determining eligibility for OPS. The demand is aimed at employees who were subsequently recruited against vacancies that had already been sanctioned before the cut-off date but whose recruitment process or appointment took place later.
Under the existing framework, the government has provided OPS coverage in certain cases where employees were recruited against posts or vacancies that had been advertised or notified for recruitment on or before December 22, 2003, even though they joined government service after the NPS came into effect on January 1, 2004.
The NC-JCM’s latest demand seeks to go a step further by allowing the date of sanction of the vacancy to be considered while deciding eligibility. If accepted, this could bring relief to employees whose vacancies were sanctioned before December 22, 2003, but who may not meet the existing requirement relating to the date of advertisement or notification.
Who could benefit?
The proposal could potentially benefit NPS-covered Central Government employees who:
- were appointed after January 1, 2004;
- were recruited against vacancies sanctioned before December 22, 2003; and
- are unable to qualify under the existing OPS provisions because the recruitment advertisement or notification was issued after the December 22, 2003 cut-off.
The issue is particularly relevant in cases where recruitment was delayed because of administrative or procedural reasons despite the vacancies having been sanctioned earlier.
However, the NC-JCM’s demand does not amount to an extension of OPS at this stage. The government would have to accept the proposal and issue the necessary orders or clarification before such employees become eligible.
The demand comes against the backdrop of continuing representations from NPS-covered employees seeking parity with colleagues whose recruitment was linked to vacancies or recruitment processes initiated before the transition to the new pension system.
The outcome of the NC-JCM’s request will therefore be closely watched by Central Government employees who joined service after January 1, 2004 but whose sanctioned posts trace back to the pre-December 22, 2003 period.
Comments are closed