On 24th August 2024, the Union Cabinet chaired by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister (PM) of India has approved:
i.Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for central government employees.
ii.The merger of 3 umbrella schemes under a new unified central sector scheme,” Vigyan Dhara” of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology(MoS&T).
iii.Biotechnology for Economy Environment and Employment (BioE3) Policy for fostering High Performance Biomanufacturing.
Cabinet Approves Unified Pension Scheme:
The Union Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi has approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for central government employees. The UPS combines the benefits of existing National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
- Aim: To provide assured pensions, family pensions and minimum pensions to 23 lakh government employees.
- The scheme will come into effect on 1st April, 2025. The benefits of the UPS will apply to those who are retired or retiring under the NPS till March 31, 2025.
- The Maharashtra government became the first state to implement Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for its government employees with effective from March 2024.
Background:
i.The UPS was recommended by a committee headed by T.V. Somanathan, former finance secretary in April, 2023.
ii.The UPS is an upgrade of the existing NPS, which was introduced on 1st January, 2004 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and has replaced the OPS.
- NPS was initially introduced exclusively for government employees. Later in 2009, it was expanded to cover all sectors.
Key Points:
i.As per UPS, the central government employees will continue to contribute 10% of their salary, as in current National Pension Scheme (NPS).
- While, the central government has increased its contribution from 14% (currently under NPS) to 18.5%.
ii.It is voluntary for existing employees under NPS and those opting for Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) under NPS, to switch to UPS or not. But, once switch is made to UPS then, it cannot be reversed.
Key Features of UPS:
i.Assured Pension: Under the UPS, all central government employees who have served for minimum 25 years, will receive 50% of their last drawn salary from the past 12 months before superannuation as pension.
- The pension will be proportionate for those with shorter service periods, up to a minimum requirement of 10 years of service.
ii.Assured family pension: The scheme has a provision of family pension, in case of an employee’s death. The family of deceased employee will be eligible to receive 60% of the pension amount that employee was receiving immediately before his death.
iii.Assured minimum pension: The scheme has a unique feature of assured minimum pension for those employees who have served for at least 10 years, will be entitled to receive a minimum pension benefit of Rs 10,000 per month on superannuation.
iv.Inflation Indexation: The assured pension, family pension, and minimum pension will be indexed to inflation. Also, UPS subscribers will be entitled to receive Dearness Relief (DR), will be based on the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) as in the case of serving employees.
v.Lumpsum payment at superannuation: Apart from gratuity, UPS subscribers will receive a lumpsum payment at equivalent to 1/10th (10%) of their monthly emoluments (pay + Dearness Allowance (DA)) as of the retirement date for every completed 6 months of service.
- This payment will not affect or change the assured pension amount.
Cabinet Approves the Department of Science and Technology Scheme namely “Vigyan Dhara”
On 24th August 2024, the Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of 3 umbrella schemes under a new unified central sector scheme,” Vigyan Dhara” of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology(MoS&T).
- The estimated budget for the implementation of the scheme is Rs 10, 579.84 crore during the 15th Finance Commission i.e. from Financial Year of 2021-22 (FY22) to FY26.
- The newly unified scheme will enhance efficiency in fund utilization and establish synchronization among the sub-scheme or programs.
Key Objectives:
i.The main objective of the scheme is to promote Science and Technology (S&T) capacity building and research, innovation and technology development towards bolstering the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) ecosystem across the country.
ii.The scheme also aims to promote research in areas like: basic research with access to the international mega facilities, translational research in sustainable energy, water, among others, and collaborative research via international and bilateral cooperation.
Key Points:
i.The scheme has three main components such as: S&T Institutional and Human Capacity Building; Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation, Technology Development and Deployment.
ii.The scheme will help to build critical human resource pool to strengthen the S&T landscape and expand the R&D base of the country to improve the Full-time Equivalent (FTE) researcher count.
iii.The center government will make focused interventions to enhance the participation of women in the field of S&T and achieve the gender equality in STI.
iv.The unified scheme is designed to reinforce the government’s efforts to promote innovations at all levels i.e. from school level to higher education, and for the industries and startups through targeted interventions.
v.All the programmes proposed under “Vigyan Dhara” scheme will align with the 5-year objectives of the DST to realize the “Viksit Bharat 2047” vision.
- The research and development component of the scheme will also align with the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF).
Cabinet Approved Biotechnology for Economy Environment and Employment (BioE3) Policy to Boost Bio-manufacturing in India
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment (BioE3) policy which aimed at fostering high-performance bio-manufacturing of the Department of Biotechnology(DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology (MoS&T).
- Till August 2024, 21 ministries have approved the policy, which is expected to take shape by December 2024.
About BioE3 Policy :
i.TheBioE3 Policy outlines three implementation strategies: discovery and integrated research networks, bridging existing gaps, and establishing bio-enabler hubs.
ii.The policy will expedite technology development and commercialization by establishing Bio-manufacturing and Bio-Artificial Intelligence (AI) hubs and Bio-foundry.
iii.It will further strengthen Government’s initiatives such as ‘Net Zero’ carbon economy and ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ and will put India on the path of accelerated ‘Green Growth’ by boosting ‘Circular Bioeconomy’.
iv.It will promote an advance future that is more sustainable, innovative and responsive to global challenges and will frame the Bio-vision for Viksit Bharat.
v.The policy is designed to supplement traditional supply methods with biotechnological solutions to meet the demands of a developed India by 2047.
About Ministry of Science and Technology(MoS&T) :
Minister of State(MoS) – Dr. Jitendra Singh (Constituency: Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir, J&K)
