Daily Wage and Contract Workers No Longer Eligible to Claim Pension Under New Ordinance

The state government has implemented the Uttar Pradesh Pension Eligibility and Regularisation Ordinance, 2025, which bars daily wage earners and contractual employees from claiming pension benefits. This significant legal change applies to those whose appointments were not made in accordance with formal recruitment rules or service regulations.

 

According to the ordinance, individuals who were neither appointed through an officially sanctioned recruitment process nor regularised under any service rule will no longer be entitled to pension benefits. The decision overturns decades of practice under which many temporary workers had approached the courts seeking pension parity with permanent government employees.

 

The ordinance, originally effective from April 1, 1961, has now been amended to clarify pension eligibility criteria. It states that pension claims will only be entertained if the employee’s appointment and service regularisation followed prescribed rules and procedures. This means that thousands of individuals hired on daily wage or contractual bases without formal appointments are excluded from pension entitlements.

 

More than 7,000 such workers have previously filed petitions in various courts, arguing that they too should receive pension benefits similar to those granted to regular government employees. However, under the new provisions, such claims will no longer be legally valid.

 

A circular issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Deepak Kumar directed all departments to ensure strict compliance with the revised guidelines in processing pension-related matters. The government has emphasised that only those who were lawfully appointed and regularised will remain eligible for post-retirement pension.

 

Officials believe the ordinance will help streamline pension administration and reduce the mounting litigation burden on the state, while clearly distinguishing between regular employees and those engaged on temporary or contractual terms.