While no decision has yet been taken by the Rajasthan government regarding the Unified Pension Scheme or UPS, the upper limit for gratuity has been increased to Rs 25 lakhs from the current Rs 20 lakhs for state government staff. This is the same as the gratuity limit of Central government employees.
The Rajasthan government has also decided on a 10 per cent increase in family pension, which is paid to the surviving spouse of a deceased state government employee. The maximum limit for the outpatient department (OPD) medical expenses has also been hiked to Rs 30,000 per year for existing employees as well as retired pensioners. Currently, the upper limit is Rs 20,000 annually.
Staff working in district courts will start receiving promotions and other benefits even if they have more than two children. Since 2002, employees with over two children were being denied these benefits. A similar decision was taken in favour of government employees in March last year, that is, 2023.
Employees of the Government of Rajasthan do not appear to be too keen to accept the UPS primarily because it is not clear enough. Also, the Centre has not acted on the request to return the deposits of employees towards the new pension scheme or NPS contributions. The amount owed is a whopping Rs 40,000 crore, which needs to be refunded by the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority, because the old pension scheme or OPS had been restored in the State.
