J&K Government Offers One-Time OPS Switch for Eligible Employees

The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has announced a major policy decision allowing select government employees currently covered under the National Pension System (NPS) to transition to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). This facility is offered as a one-time opportunity and does not apply across the board to all NPS personnel.

Eligibility Criteria and Application Deadline

The benefit is restricted strictly to employees whose recruitment advertisements or vacancy notifications were published before December 24, 2009, but who formally entered government service on or after January 1, 2010.

Eligible personnel wishing to switch must submit their applications by December 28, 2026. Employees who fail to submit their options within this stipulated window will automatically remain under the NPS. Crucially, the decision is irreversible: once an employee elects to transition to OPS, they cannot return to the National Pension System.

Application and Verification Procedure

The administration has established a multi-tiered verification framework:

1. Submission: Eligible employees must submit their formal option to their respective Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO).
2. Forwarding: The DDO will review the application and forward it to the relevant Head of Department (HOD) or Appointing Authority.
3. Administrative Review: The proposal is then directed to the concerned Administrative Department.
4. Final Order: The department will examine service records and recruitment notifications against eligibility norms. Once verified, an official order authorizing the coverage under OPS will be issued.

Treatment of NPS Accounts and GPF Transition

The government has also clarified the financial transition mechanism:

• Closure of NPS: An employee’s NPS account will be closed starting on the first day of the month following the issuance of their formal OPS induction order.
• GPF Coverage: Following the closure of their NPS account, employees will be transitioned to the General Provident Fund (GPF) framework. This shifts both their primary pension framework and their long-term retirement savings mechanism.

Background and Context

The National Pension System was initially notified in Jammu and Kashmir on December 24, 2009, covering all entrants joining service on or after January 1, 2010. However, a segment of employees contended that because their recruitment drives commenced prior to the NPS notification—when the OPS was still in force—they should legally remain entitled to the defined benefit scheme.

A precedent was set on March 3, 2023, when the Central Government granted a similar one-time option to central employees recruited through pre-NPS notifications. Although Central orders do not automatically extend to state or Union Territory service cadres—as reiterated by central authorities in December 2024—the Jammu and Kashmir administration pursued the proposal independently. Following formal clearance by the Council of Ministers on September 10, 2026, the administration released the operational guidelines enabling eligible staff to exercise the switch.