RAS question
UPS is provided as an option under which existing pension framework?
Correct answer: (B) National Pension System (NPS).
The Unified Pension Scheme is provided as an option under the National Pension System for Central Government employees.
Explanation
UPS sits inside the National Pension System framework, not outside it. PFRDA describes the Unified Pension Scheme as a Government of India pension scheme, effective from 1 April 2025, offered as an option under NPS for Central Government employees. That matches the key point in the question: UPS is not a replacement label for the Old Pension Scheme or a provident-fund product, but an NPS-linked option for employees seeking assured and inflation-indexed retirement benefits. PFRDA also states that UPS operates within the existing NPS architecture regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, which is why the correct framework is NPS.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Old Pension Scheme is wrong because the cited PFRDA page places UPS as an option under NPS, not under OPS.
- (C) Employees Provident Fund is wrong because the explanation and PFRDA source both frame UPS as a pension option within NPS for Central Government employees.
- (D) Atal Pension Yojana is wrong because PFRDA lists UPS separately and identifies its parent framework as the National Pension System.
Concept
This tests pension governance under Indian public administration, especially how new retirement-benefit options are nested within existing regulatory frameworks. RAS asks such questions because schemes often look similar by name, but the exam rewards knowing the institutional framework behind them.