Sanju Verma discusses the UPS (Unified Pension Scheme) as a transformative policy with potential benefits for the government, state administrations, and pensioners. She highlights how this strategy aims to streamline pension management, enhance financial stability, and ensure fair compensation for retirees. Verma emphasises that the UPS represents a win-win solution by improving efficiency, reducing administrative burdens, and securing better retirement benefits for the pensioners.
#UPS #UnifiedPensionScheme #PMModi #PMModiUPSScheme #SanjuVerma #Oneindia #PensionReform #GovernmentStrategy #StateGovernance #Pensioners #FinancialStability #RetirementBenefits #PolicyImpact #AdministrativeEfficiency #PensionManagement #WinWinSolution #EconomicStrategy
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#UPS #UnifiedPensionScheme #PMModi #PMModiUPSScheme #SanjuVerma #Oneindia #PensionReform #GovernmentStrategy #StateGovernance #Pensioners #FinancialStability #RetirementBenefits #PolicyImpact #AdministrativeEfficiency #PensionManagement #WinWinSolution #EconomicStrategy
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NewsTranscript
00:00Now, Unified Pension Scheme is an excellent scheme by Modi government because it combines
00:05the best of both, how well you can execute your grand vision, that is what makes a policy
00:14successful or otherwise and I think this is where Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins hands
00:19down.
00:20He marries grand vision with seamless, seamless execution, there are 53 crore plus Jandhan
00:27bank accounts and if you notice under the Congress regime, the banking penetration was
00:34not even 41-42%.
00:35Hello and welcome to this very special broadcast on Unified Pension Scheme, you are watching
00:41One India.
00:42Joining us today is Sanju Verma, economist, ex-JP Morgan, Philip Capital and HDFC but
00:48she needs no introduction because the whole country has seen her as the national spokesperson
00:54for the BJP.
00:55Sanju ji, thank you so much for taking out for One India.
01:00Thank you for having me, Pankaj ji, pleasure and economy is a subject that's completely
01:05up my alley.
01:07Yes, definitely and that's why we wanted to explore this side of your expertise today
01:12and needless to say, the Unified Pension Scheme has become a reality.
01:17How in your opinion, Sanju ji, this UPS demonstrate the Modi government's commitment to both securing
01:26pensions and maintaining India's economic stability?
01:31That's an excellent question, very quickly, you know, we've had three pension schemes,
01:39you obviously had in the 1920s, the old pension scheme, which started way back in 1924.
01:44Then in April 2004, we kick-started when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister,
01:49the National Pension Scheme, NPS, OPS, NPS, and now from April 2025, we will have the
01:55Unified Pension Scheme, UPS.
01:58Now the difference between the three, very quickly, is that OPS, there was no contribution
02:04by the employee, okay, it is a guaranteed pension scheme and the state exchequer bears
02:12the entire burden.
02:13Under the National Pension Scheme, what happened was that the government decided employees
02:19will contribute 10% of their salary every month, basic plus DA, and the government,
02:26state government, say Himachal Pradesh, which, you know, said it will implement the OPS ahead
02:31of elections.
02:32In NPS, the state government's contribution is 14%.
02:38Right, okay.
02:39Whereas in UPS, the government's contribution stands to be raised from 14% to 18.5%.
02:48So first and foremost, the OPS is not a participatory scheme.
02:55The employee does not contribute anything, but at the end of superannuation, he or she
03:01gets his or her pension based on DNS allowance, based on number of years of service, and based
03:10on his last drawn salary.
03:13Under the National Pension Scheme, the employee has to contribute 10%, the state contributes
03:2214%.
03:23So it is participatory in nature.
03:27Now, the UPS, the employee continues to contribute 10%, and the state contributes instead of
03:3414%, 18.5%, which is when the scheme will, you know, be implemented, that is from April
03:432025.
03:44The first difference we have to understand is that OPS used to be, entire burden used
03:50to fall on the exchequer.
03:52Yes, the government.
03:53It could be the central government or the state government, depending on, you know,
03:59whether you're a central government or a state government employee, who's availing benefit
04:04of OPS.
04:05Under NPS, the burden is distributed partially between the retiree or the employee and the
04:14central or state government as the case may be.
04:18Now Unified Pension Scheme is an excellent scheme by Modi government because it combines
04:23the best of both.
04:25On the one hand, like OPS, there is assured pension, there is family pension, there is
04:32minimum pension, and all the three are indexed in terms of inflation.
04:39So you're protected against inflation, you get a minimum amount at the end of your superannuation,
04:45depending on, you know, 10 years of service or minimum qualifying period of 25 years
04:50of service, what have you.
04:51And on the other hand, while giving you benefits like OPS in terms of stability, in terms of
04:58a guaranteed amount, in terms of a minimum amount, it also takes the best of NPS.
05:04How?
05:05Because in the NPS corpus, you invest at least 40% of the corpus in equity or market linked
05:14instruments, corporate bonds, annuity based scheme.
05:17When 40% of the corpus is invested, as per PFRDA guidelines, the Pension Fund Regulatory
05:25Development Authority of India, their guidelines, when you invest 40% of your corpus in equities
05:31or equity linked products or corporate bonds or high yielding debt instruments, the ability
05:36to generate return for the retiree, or for the employee at the end of his or her superannuation
05:43period, the ability to generate return increases manifold.
05:47So what happens is, like OPS, you get a stable return through UPS, but even under NPS, the
05:5640% corpus, because it will be invested in equity linked products, on the basis of that,
06:04the return you will get as a retiree, that will be far higher than OPS, because in OPS,
06:11you do not invest any part of your corpus in equity linked or annuity linked or corporate
06:17debt instruments.
06:18So you get a fixed amount.
06:20This is the case, best of both the worlds, what you were saying, it also has a history.
06:28I hope I made sense, Mr. Pankaj.
06:30You did, you did.
06:31Thank you so much.
06:32I mean, I'm sure if my clarity is, you know, better, then I'm sure the viewers and the
06:38readers would also benefit.
06:39One final question, Sanjay ji, that I want to take from you is the bigger picture looking
06:44at this unified pension scheme.
06:47There are certain other schemes also that this government has launched over a period
06:52of 10 to 11 years.
06:54Now, you know, sabka saath, sabka vikas ki baat toh hoti thi, usko ek tarike se match
07:00karne ke liye, jo bhi Pradhan Mantri Chandhan Yojana, ya phir Ayushman Yojana, jo launch
07:06aapko kya lagta hai, how does it unify this UPS, also works well with other welfare initiatives,
07:13which primarily, I would say, protects Modi government's intention for social security
07:19of the common man.
07:22Pankaj ji, you know, I think I am now wearing the hat of both an economist and a politician.
07:28And I'm so glad you asked me this question.
07:30Yes, yes.
07:31I'm a huge supporter of modinomics.
07:33And I always tell that, you know, good economics makes for good politics.
07:40I think where Narendra Modi stands out, and I don't say this because I'm the national
07:45spokesperson of BJP, I say this as a bona fide citizen.
07:50Yes.
07:50I think it's great to, I think it's great as a politician to have a great vision.
07:55It's great to dream big.
07:58But zameeni star par, how well you can execute your grand vision, that is what makes a policy
08:06successful or otherwise.
08:07And I think this is where Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins hands down.
08:12He marries grand vision with seamless, seamless execution.
08:17Jaise ki, I'll tell you, direct benefit transfer scheme was started in 2013.
08:23But under the Congress, it was a non-starter.
08:25Today, more than 34 lakh crore has been given into the bank accounts of beneficiaries directly
08:32via the DDT.
08:33Absolutely.
08:34Banking penetration, we've completed 10 years of Jan Dhan Yojana, Ankur ji.
08:40We've just completed 10 years of Jan Dhan Yojana.
08:43Today, the banking penetration rate is, you know, more than, you know, 85%.
08:50And there are 53 crore plus Jan Dhan bank accounts.
08:54And if you notice under the Congress regime, the banking penetration was not even 41, 42%.
09:01For the first 67 years of post-independent India, the first 54 years, it was Congress or
09:06Congress affiliated regimes, which ruled us.
09:10So look at the banking penetration, it was abysmal.
09:13You know, direct benefit transfer, the penetration was abysmal.
09:16I will give you a small example of a scheme called Jan Naushadi Kendras.
09:20Not many people talk about it.
09:22This was started way back in 2008.
09:27When Narendra Modi took charge as Prime Minister, there were only 34 Jan Naushadi Kendras.
09:33And today, there are more than 12,000 Jan Naushadi Kendras, which are either fully
09:39functional or which are close to being fully functional.
09:43And you get medicines in the Jan Naushadi Kendras, which are 50 to 75 in some cases,
09:5185 to 90% cheaper compared to market prices.
09:55We have seen these Jan Naushadi Kendras, the best part is they are in the,
09:58not tier one, tier two, tier three cities also have that.
10:01So the access to that is the cash.
10:03Yeah, exactly.
10:05And I'll just give you one last data.
10:08You must have seen, Himachal Pradesh had said we will implement OPS.
10:13You will be surprised to know, I have some data here.
10:16Just a few days back, the Congress Chief Minister, Mr. Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder
10:20in Himachal Pradesh has said, we will not take salary, we will not take MLA salary.
10:30It is because Himachal Pradesh is on the verge of bankruptcy.
10:34It does not have the means to even pay basic salary to government employees.
10:40That's the problem.
10:42Because OPS, I'm told, today accounts for more than 79% of Himachal Pradesh's tax revenues.
11:02Because every state government borrows money from various sources.
11:05How on earth will you have money to pay your employees?
11:10To pay salaries to state government employees.
11:12So Himachal Pradesh is a classic case.
11:19And one thing I would like to say is that OPS would have turned out to be a burden
11:24on future generations.
11:25You must have heard the story of the golden goose.
11:32The goose that lays a golden egg.
11:33And the farmer thinks, it's better to get one golden egg every day.
11:39Let me kill the golden goose.
11:41Maybe I can get a lot of golden eggs at one go.
11:44What happens?
11:45The farmer is disappointed to see that the goose has come out of his hand.
11:54So what I'm trying to say is that you have to be very practical.
11:59You have to ensure that you don't go overboard.
12:03You can't be the farmer who wanted to kill the golden goose to want all the golden eggs at one
12:09go.
12:10And Himachal Pradesh is a classic example where because of lack of practical approach
12:15and in wanting to appease vote bank, what Congress has done is it has pushed Himachal
12:20Pradesh, a beautiful state, into the throes of bankruptcy.
12:24So welfarism is a great policy.
12:27You have to adopt a welfarist approach in a country like India, which is what Narendra
12:32Modi government is doing.
12:33But while practicing welfarism, you cannot lose sight of the broader picture.
12:40You can't practice freebies in a manner that push your government into the throes of bankruptcy.
12:55And that's why I would say that BJP scores here because the fiscal prudence that we were
13:00talking about and, you know, promising freebies or services during election season is a different
13:07thing.
13:07But walking the tightrope is a totally different ballgame altogether.
13:11So thank you so much.
13:12I know your time is of essence even on the weekend for you.
13:16But nonetheless, thank you so much for speaking to One India.
13:18I really appreciate your presence here.