Jaipur, Oct. 11 -- The Rajasthan government has decided to withdraw the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) - introduced during the previous Congress regime - for employees working in state boards, corporations, public sector undertakings, autonomous institutions, and universities, including retirees. Instead, the Rajasthan government has opened the way for these institutions to reintroduce the New Pension System (NPS), Contributory Provident Fund (CPF), and Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) frameworks, effectively reversing the rollout of the OPS in these entities. The decision comes through a detailed order issued by the Finance Department on Thursday. The move follows earlier orders dated June 6, 2025, and aims to resolve administrative and financial challenges faced by institutions that had either adopted or were preparing to implement the GPF-linked Pension Scheme (OPS) introduced on April 20, 2023. According to the new guidelines, boards, corporations, universities, and autonomous bodies that are financially weak or lack sufficient pension funds may opt not to implement the GPF-linked scheme after obtaining approval from the competent authority. In such cases, the institutions must refund the entire employer's contribution along with the interest accrued on the amount deposited in their Personal Deposit (PD) accounts to the concerned employees, retirees, or their dependents. The order further clarifies that if an institution decides to continue with its earlier pension setup, deductions under CPF, EPF, or NPS will resume as before. Any delay or penalty incurred during the transition will not be borne by the employees but by the respective institution. The move has drawn strong opposition from employee unions. Akhil Rajasthan Rajya Karamchari Sanyukt Mahasangh (Ekikrat) state president Gajendra Singh accused the government of attempting to roll back the OPS introduced by the Congress government. "Employees will not tolerate this, and if the orders are not withdrawn, we will launch an agitation," Singh said. He added that the government has initially implemented the decision for boards, commissions, and corporations - covering around one lakh (100k) employees - as a test move to gauge the response before extending it to all government employees. Singh also pointed out that even the Government of India's Unified Pension Scheme failed to attract employees, with only one percent opting for it. Echoing similar sentiments, RTDC Employees Association president Tej Singh Rathore said the decision to roll back OPS is condemnable. "The government provides pensions to all employees, so why restrict it to just Rs.50,000? Boards and corporations work for the government, not the private sector - so why this discrimination?" Rathore questioned. He said that as per a 1989 agreement, board and corporation employees were promised the same perks and facilities as government staff. "This decision is a loss for employees - we have only pension as our benefit, and now even that is being taken away," Rathore added....