Old Pension Scheme option opens for select NPS employees: Who qualifies
Certain Central government employees can now choose OPS instead of NPS, subject to eligibility
 "Old Pension Scheme option opens for select NPS employees: Who qualifies")
Certain Central government employees appointed on compassionate grounds may now be able to avail of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), following a clarification issued by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW). National Pension System (NPS) subscribers cannot switch back to OPS.
The clarification addresses a long-standing issue faced by some compassionate appointees whose applications were submitted before the NPS came into force on January 1, 2004, but whose appointments were made only after that date because of administrative delays.
What has the Centre clarified?
Earlier this month, the DoPPW, through an Office Memorandum, clarified that in eligible compassionate appointment cases, the date of application and not the date of appointment, will be treated as the deciding factor for pension coverage.
This means employees who had applied for compassionate appointment before January 1, 2004, but joined government service after that date, may now be allowed to opt for pension benefits under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021, which govern the Old Pension Scheme for eligible employees.
The clarification follows consultations with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and the Department of Expenditure. The issue had also been raised by the Staff Side of the National Council (Joint Consultative Machinery).
Why was this issue important?
The National Pension System became mandatory for most Central government employees joining service on or after January 1, 2004.
However, in several compassionate appointment cases, families had submitted applications before the cut-off date but appointments were delayed due to administrative procedures. Since the employees formally joined after January 1, 2004, they were automatically placed under the NPS despite having applied earlier.
The latest clarification seeks to remove this anomaly by recognising the date on which the compassionate appointment application was made instead of the eventual joining date.
Who is eligible for the Old Pension Scheme option?
The benefit is available only to employees who satisfy all the prescribed conditions. Broadly, an employee must:
- Have applied for compassionate appointment on or before December 31, 2003.
- Have fulfilled the eligibility conditions for compassionate appointment on that date.
- Have been appointed or joined government service on or after January 1, 2004, because the appointment process was completed later.
- Meet the conditions laid down by the DoPPW in its Office Memorandum.
Only employees meeting all these requirements can exercise the option to be covered under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021.
Does this mean all NPS subscribers can switch to OPS?
No.
The clarification does not reopen the Old Pension Scheme for all Central government employees or all NPS subscribers.
It is confined to a narrowly defined category of compassionate ground appointees whose cases fall within the conditions specified by the DoPPW.
Employees recruited through the normal recruitment process, or compassionate appointees who do not satisfy the eligibility criteria, will continue to remain under the National Pension System.
What is a compassionate appointment?
Compassionate appointment is a special recruitment mechanism under which an eligible family member of a government employee who dies in service or is medically retired may be appointed to a government post to help the family overcome financial hardship.
Since such appointments often involve administrative scrutiny and take time to process, some applications filed before the introduction of NPS resulted in appointments only after the new pension regime had become effective.
The latest clarification specifically addresses these delayed cases.
Why has the issue come into focus now?
The matter gained wider attention after the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) issued an order on July 7, 2026, directing its laboratories and institutes to implement the DoPPW clarification for eligible employees.
This made CSIR one of the first Central autonomous bodies to begin implementing the clarification.
However, the Centre has not issued a blanket direction requiring all autonomous bodies to adopt the same approach.
What does this mean for employees of autonomous bodies?
For employees working in Central autonomous organisations, the position remains organisation-specific.
Each autonomous body will have to examine the DoPPW clarification and decide whether to implement it in accordance with its own service rules and governing framework.
As a result, similarly placed compassionate appointees in different organisations may not receive identical treatment immediately. Implementation will depend on whether their respective organisations formally adopt the clarification.
What employees should know
The latest clarification is intended to correct a specific pension anomaly arising from delayed compassionate appointments before the introduction of the National Pension System. It does not signal a broader policy shift or a general return to the Old Pension Scheme for Central government employees.
Employees who believe they fall within the eligible category should check whether they had applied for compassionate appointment before January 1, 2004, verify that they met the eligibility conditions at the time, and approach their department or employer to understand whether the option is available in their case and the process for exercising it.