New Delhi, July 21 -- Certain Central government employees appointed on compassionate grounds may now have the option to be covered under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), following a clarification issued by the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW).

The clarification applies to eligible employees who had applied for compassionate appointment before the National Pension System (NPS) came into effect on January 1, 2004, but whose appointments were made after that date. Since NPS applies to Central government employees joining service on or after January 1, 2004, such employees were brought under the contributory pension system despite having submitted their applications before the cut-off date.

In an Office Memorandum dated J...