The All India NPS Employees Federation (AINPSEF), sent a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today (Tuesday, August 18, 2026), highlighting the delay in the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for the Delhi government employees, including teachers, many of whom have already retired over a year ago.
AINPSEF is urging the Finance Minister to urgently look into the cases of these pensioners so they can begin receiving their UPS pension.
What’s the issue with retired Delhi government employees?
In the letter to the Finance Minister, Manjeet Singh Patel, national president of AINPSEF, pointed out that hundreds of retired government employees and teachers of the Government of NCT of Delhi, including those who served under the Directorate of Education and other departments, still haven’t started receiving their pension under the UPS.
The central government rolled out the UPS as an option under the National Pension System (NPS) on April 1, 2025, and provided time till September 30, 2025, for employees and pensioners to apply for the scheme. Only central government employees and those under All India Services can join the UPS.
Patel mentioned that during the application window, many Delhi government employees and teachers, including those who had retired or were due to retire during the relevant period, opted for the UPS.
“However, despite the passing of almost a year, such retired employees are not being provided any pensions under the UPS. As a result, hundreds of retired teachers who devoted their entire working lives to public service, are facing severe financial hardship and are struggling to meet even their basic necessities,” writes Patel in the letter.
Patel highlighted that the situation is troubling since these employees have already completed their service and have no regular source of income.
“Such prolonged delay in extending pensionary benefits to retired employees is not only deeply unfortunate and distressing from a humanitarian perspective, but also raises serious concerns regarding their right to financial and social security after retirement,” wrote Patel.
Giving the example of a Delhi government teacher, Vinod Bala, who retired from a school in Kakrola, Delhi, Patel says that Bala submitted her UPS form on June 18, 2025. The form was received by the pay and accounts office, the department that disburses pension and salaries, on September 25, 2025, but her pension is yet to be started.
Online UPS link not active for Delhi government retirees, says Patel
Speaking to ET Wealth, Patel says despite the Delhi Government’s endorsement of the UPS in June 2025, the UPS link is not active on the respective central record-keeping agencies' (CRA) portals for Delhi Government employees and pensioners.
“Since Delhi government pensioners can’t log in on their respective CRA portals, they can’t check their retirement corpus or the pension amount they may get under the UPS,” says Patel.
What does the AINSPEF want from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman?
The AINSPEF urged the Finance Minister to intervene urgently and fulfil its demands related to UPS-bound Delhi government employees. The AINSPEF’s demands are-
·Urgent review of all pending cases of retired employees of the Directorate of Education and other departments of the Government of NCT of Delhi on a priority basis.
·Processing the UPS option exercised by eligible employees within the prescribed period, and settling their pension claims without any further delay.
·See that pension payments due under the UPS are commenced immediately, and all admissible arrears released to the concerned beneficiaries.
·In cases where completion of UPS formalities is taking additional time, an appropriate interim pensionary arrangement, as permissible under the applicable rules, may be considered so that no retired employee is left without any source of income.
·Issuing necessary directions for effective coordination between the Government of India and the Government of NCT of Delhi so that these long-pending cases are resolved within a fixed and time-bound period.
