Chandigarh, Dec. 27 -- The Punjab government is caught in a Catch-22 over restoring the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for its employees, following the Centre's refusal to refund the accumulated New Pension Scheme (NPS) corpus, and the Unified Pension Scheme drawing a tepid response despite multiple extensions of the deadline. The state government notified the restoration of OPS three years ago, but it has yet to finalise the modalities or issue the standard operating procedures for its implementation for over two lakh employees who joined after 2004, the year Punjab switched to the NPS. State authorities weighed the option of offering the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), approved by the Union cabinet for central government employees in August 2024 with enhanced benefits, to their staff after the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) rejected the request to allow premature withdrawal of the accumulated NPS corpus, including employee and employer contributions along with accrued growth. However, the lukewarm response of central government employees to the UPS is being seen as a dampener. According to official data shared by the Union finance ministry in the Lok Sabha last week, only 1.22 lakh central government employees, including new joinees, existing employees and past retirees, had opted for the UPS as of November 30, out of nearly 23 lakh eligible employees, even after being granted multiple extensions to join the new scheme. Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated that there is no proposal under consideration to restore the OPS for central government employees. He also reiterated that as per the PFRDA Act, 2013, and the Exits and Withdrawals under NPS Regulations, 2015, there is no provision through which the accumulated corpus of subscribers, including government and employees' contribution towards NPS along with accruals, can be refunded and deposited back to the state government. He said that Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh had informed PFRDA about their decision to start the OPS for their employees. The accumulated NPS corpus of Punjab stood at Rs.28,507 crore as on December 31, 2024. A senior government functionary, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the central government should refund the accumulated NPS funds, without which the restoration of the OPS would not be feasible due to the state's fiscal constraints. "We are studying the provisions of the UPS, which is much closer to the OPS in terms of benefits. Any decision without understanding the implications of the new scheme (UPS) may lead to further complications in future," he said, declining to comment on the tepid response to the scheme from central government employees. A cabinet sub-committee comprising finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema as chairman and cabinet ministers Aman Arora and Harjot Bains as members, at a meeting on October 30, 2024, had taken the decision to study the provisions of the UPS in detail and prepare a comprehensive report along with the financial implications arising from the non-availability of funds amounting deposited with PFRDA, said an official privy to the developments. UPS, a fund-based pension relying on regular and timely accumulation and investment of applicable contribution for assured payouts to the employees, guarantees an assured pension of 50% of the employee's average basic pay drawn over the last 12 months preceding superannuation; a minimum assured pension of Rs.10,000 per month for those retiring after 10 years of service; a family pension of 60% of the last drawn pension; inflation indexation; and a lump sum payment at superannuation in addition to gratuity. Earlier, chief secretary KAP Sinha had set a March 31, 2026, deadline to finalise the SOP for restoration of the old pension scheme. "This will be contingent upon PFRDA giving its consent to refund the deposited amount to the state government and the Central government sharing its standard operating procedure regarding the UPS," one of the officials said, quoting from the chief secretary's order issued on June 18, 2025. However, the state employees' unions are insisting on the restoration of the original scheme. Jasvir Talwara, convener of the Old Pension Restoration Struggle Committee, said the state government was dilly-dallying on the OPS. "We do not want the UPS. Only 4% eligible employees of the central government have opted for it," he said. The NPS was introduced in 2003 by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to replace the OPS. After the Punjab government opted for the NPS in 2004, all those who joined service thereafter were enrolled under it. Since then, the state employees have been demanding a return to the OPS and have staged protests to press their demand. In the run-up to the state elections, the AAP promised to restore OPS for the state employees....