Who among the following can join the National Pension System (NPS)?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) All State Government employees joining the services after the date of notification by the respective State Governments
States adopted NPS one by one, each from the date it notified, so State Government employees who join after their State's notification are covered. The other options are wrong: non-resident Indians can join, the age band was never 21–55, and the Central scheme began on 1 January 2004 and excludes the armed forces.
- ✓ (c) State Governments adopted the NPS architecture from their own effective dates through State notifications, so their new recruits after that date come under NPS.
- ✗ (a) Voluntary NPS is open to Indian citizens whether resident or non-resident, so 'resident citizens only' is wrong.
- ✗ (d) NPS applies to Central Government employees joining on or after 1 January 2004 (not 1 April 2004), and armed forces personnel are excluded.
- ✗ (b) The entry age started at 18, not 21, and the upper limit was not 55.
- • Since then Since the exam, PFRDA has widened entry: citizens (resident or non-resident) and Overseas Citizens of India aged 18 to 85 can now join voluntarily (PFRDA).
Remember · NPS: Central Government employees joining on/after 1 Jan 2004 (armed forces excluded); States from their own notification dates; voluntary for all Indian citizens, resident or NRI.
Sources
- PFRDA: NPS for Central Government ↗ “came into effect on January 1, 2004 (excluding personnel from the armed forces). All Central Government employees who joined service on or after January 1, 2004, are mandatorily covered under NPS.”
- PFRDA: NPS for State Government ↗ “Several State Governments across India have adopted the National Pension System (NPS) architecture and implemented it from various effective dates.”
- PFRDA: NPS for All Citizen Model ↗ “Must be an Indian Citizen (resident or non-resident) or an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Should be aged between 18 to 85 years”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·