In a move offering significant financial relief, the central government has approved long-pending wage revisions for employees of Public Sector General Insurance Companies (PSGICs) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Furthermore, the government has also sanctioned pension revisions for retirees of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NABARD.

The decision, announced on Friday, is expected to benefit a large number of employees and retirees. Approximately 46,322 employees, 23,570 pensioners and 23,260 family pensioners are expected to benefit from this decision.

For PSGIC employees, the wage revision translates to a 12.41% increase, encompassing a 14% rise in basic pay and a higher contribution towards the National Pension Scheme (NPS). NABARD employees will see a 20 percent increase in their pay.

The revision in wages for PSGICs and NABARD will be effective from 2022.

NABARD retirees have been agitating over the delayed implementation of pension revisions and post-retirement benefits. They contested a government order dated July 21, 2023, which excluded NABARD-recruited pensioners from pension revision, leading to unequal treatment among retirees. This resulted in unrevised pensions for those who retired on or before November 1, 2017. The retirees have been seeking the implementation of a revised family pension, the removal of any upper limit on family pension amounts, the entitlement to full pension after 20 years of service, and pension fixation based on the higher of the last drawn pay or the average of the last 10 months' pay. They have argued that the non-implementation of these revisions has caused ongoing financial hardship. Their demands also included that the benefits should be in line with those granted to RBI retirees. Protests were held in December 2025 and a dharna was held on January 5, 2026.

The government had previously communicated to the NABARD Retired Officers' Welfare Association that their claim for pension updates, aligning with those provided by the RBI to its pensioners, was not justified by the relevant provisions of the NABARD Act.

This approval of wage and pension revisions should provide significant financial and emotional relief to the employees and retirees of these key financial institutions.