CHHATTISGARH Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to ask the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to return the Rs 17,240 crore, transferred to National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) under the New Contributory Pension Scheme, to the Government of Chhattisgarh. Once the aforesaid amount is received, it will pave the way for the implementation of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), announced by State Government, for the government employees, said the Chief Minister in the letter to the Prime Minister. There is no such specific provision in the agreements made by the state government with NPS (National Pension System) Trust and NSDL, which prevents State Government to go out of agreement of new contributory pension scheme and restore the old pension scheme, said Baghel in the letter. In the federal structure, it is the sovereign decision of the State Government. In order to secure the future of government employees and their families, it is not proper to delay the restoration of OPS announced in the budget session this year by the state government, said Baghel. According to the data available with the state government, a total of 11,850 crore (employee and employer contribution) has been transferred to NSDL from November 1, 2004 to March 31, 2022 and according to the information received from NSDL, at present the market value of this deposit has become Rs 17,240 crore. Through a letter on May 20 2022, the State Government had requested the PFRDA to return this deposit amount to the State Government. In reply, the Authority through its letter dated May 26, 2022 told the state government that there is no such provision in which the deposit amount of employee and employer contribution can be returned to the State Government. Baghel has written that there is a need to restore the OPS in place of the new contributory pension scheme for all government employees appointed on or after November 1, 2004 as per his announcement in the state budget 2022-23 and it has been approved in the State Council of Ministers meeting on May 1, 2022. Notification for implementation of this decision has been issued in Chhattisgarh Gazette (Extraordinary) on May 11, 2022. With effect from April 1, 2022, the contribution from the monthly salary of government servants to NSDL under new contributory pension scheme has been stopped. In its place, OPS has come into effect and every such employee’s contribution of 12 percent of his/her basic salary is being deposited every month by opening a new General Provident Fund account, which will be final on the retirement of the employee along with interest as per the General Provident Fund rules. It has also been decided by the State Government that till March 31, 2022, the total amount deposited by the employees and the State Government’s contribution with NSDL should be received back by the State Government and out of this, the total deposit of the contribution of the employees should be transferred to employees’ General Provident Fund account. Similarly, the contribution of the State Government should be kept in a separate pension fund under the Public Account. Amount can be withdrawn from this fund if necessary for payment of pensionary obligations in future. Simultaneously, for further growth of this fund, the deposited amount will be safely invested in the securities of Government of India and State Governments and an amount equal to 4 percent of the pension payment of the previous year will be invested every year, said the Chief Minister in the letter.