Even as leading central government employee bodies have been demanding restoring the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) from the 8th Pay Commission, the central government in Parliament has denied having any such proposal under consideration. Replying to a question asked by R Girirajan, member of Parliament, in Rajya Sabha, on July 23, 2026, whether the government has any plans to bring back the OPS for central government employees, Shobha Kanadlaje, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said that as per Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, no such proposal is under consideration. OPS a key demand from 8th Pay Commission A number of key central government employee bodies have been demanding the revival of the OPS from the 8th Pay Commission. In their respective memorandums submitted to the 8th CPC, employee bodies such as the National Council of the Joint Consultative Machinery (NC-JCM), Federation of National Postal Organisations (FNPO), All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF), All India NPS Employees Federation (AINPSEF) and Indian Railways Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) have aggressively demanded the revival of the OPS. Their main concern is that employees who joined their job late and are low rung in the official hierarchy are left with a meagre monthly pension in the NPS. These bodies argue that only the OPS can give such employees a respectable pension and a source to sustain. NC-JCM’s demand from 8th Pay Commission about OPS In its memorandum submitted to the 8th Pay Commission, NC-JCM, wrote that the government’s decision to replace the defined and non-contributory pension scheme (OPS) by the NPS to those employees who joined central government service on or after January 1, 2004, is an illegal step in the light of the Supreme Court ruling that pension is as good as right to property and is enforceable. “The NPS has already made social security in old age uncertain and dependent on market forces. The scheme has been compulsorily imposed on a section of central government employees, and it is discriminatory,” said NC-JCM. The key employee body had also raised objection regarding the implementation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which the central government advertised as mix of the NPS and the OPS. The UPS is a contributory scheme where central government employees get assured pension on completion of at least 10 years of service. NC-JCM wrote in its memorandum to the 8th Pay Commission, “Out of more than 26 lakhs NPS employees, only 1.22 lakh (around 4.5%) migrated to the UPS. Therefore, there is no justification in continuing with NPS/UPS and we propose that all those who have been covered under NPS/UPS may be reverted back to defined and non-contributory statutory pension scheme (OPS) under the CCS Pension Rules 1972 (now 2021).” The central government implemented the NPS for central government employees on January 1, 2004. Following it, most states also implemented the NPS. However, some states such as Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also implemented the NPS, but they reverted to the OPS subsequently. Since 2004, many employee bodies across India have been continuously demanding to restore the OPS. However, Centre time and again has denied having any such proposals.