The Mizoram Provisional Employees Savings Scheme, 2024

What is the Mizoram Provisional Employees Savings Scheme?

The Mizoram Provisional Employees Savings Scheme, 2024 is a compulsory defined-contribution savings scheme framed by the Finance Department, Government of Mizoram, for provisional employees of the state government. Mizoram engages a large number of staff on a provisional basis, and those employees fall outside both the old pension arrangements and the National Pension System that covers regular state employees. The scheme, commonly shortened to MPESS, closes that gap by forcing a small monthly saving out of wages so that a provisional employee does not finish service with nothing set aside.

The scheme text describes itself as "a savings scheme laid out to allow the members to make defined contribution towards planned savings thereby securing the future in the form of Pension" and calls itself an attempt at a solution to the problem of providing adequate retirement income.

Key facts

• MPESS came into force on 1 September 2024.
• Minimum contribution is 5 per cent of total monthly wages.
• There is no matching contribution from the Government of Mizoram.
• Overall management rests with the Finance Department (APF), Government of Mizoram.
• The scheme runs on a centralised model; all system activity is carried out by the Nodal Office appointed by the Government.

Who is covered by the Mizoram Provisional Employees Savings Scheme?

You are covered if:

• You are a provisional employee of the Government of Mizoram.
• Your engagement has been duly approved by DP&AR and the Finance Department, Government of Mizoram.

Coverage is not a choice. Paragraph 2.1 makes the scheme compulsory for every provisional employee in that category, and the contribution is taken at source from the monthly wages bill rather than paid in by the employee.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• You are a regular government employee of the Government of Mizoram. Regular employees are covered by the National Pension System and its own deduction and challan procedure, not by MPESS.
• You are a provisional employee whose engagement has not been approved by DP&AR and the Finance Department. Approval of the engagement is the gateway condition written into the scheme.
• You are employed by a central government office, a public sector undertaking or a private employer in Mizoram. The scheme defines "Employer" as the Government of Mizoram alone.
• You are a member of the public. MPESS is not a public savings product; it is an in-service deduction scheme, and no one outside the state government payroll can join it.

How much do I contribute and what do I get back?

MPESS prescribes a minimum contribution of 5 per cent of total wages per month. The Drawing and Disbursing Officer deducts that amount from the wages bill every month and shows it under the Deduction column, booked under Major Head 8342 – Other Deposits, Minor Head 120 – Miscellaneous Deposits, Sub-Head 01 – P.E. Savings Contribution.

No contribution is taken in the month of joining. Deduction starts from the wages of the month following the month of joining.

A member may reduce or enhance the rate of contribution, but only once in a year and only in the month of January.

Benefits are calculated at the rate prescribed by the Fund Manager in consultation with the Government of Mizoram. Interest is borne by the Fund Manager, and the scheme is explicit that the Fund Manager must pay the prescribed rate of interest even when its investments yield low returns, with no compensation from the Government. There is therefore no fixed maturity figure: the payout is whatever the accumulated contributions and interest come to on the day of exit.

How to apply for the Mizoram Provisional Employees Savings Scheme

1. Join service as an approved provisional employee. Coverage begins with the DP&AR and Finance Department approval of your engagement.
2. Fill Form-I, the enrolment form, immediately on joining. Form-I asks for your name, father's name, date of birth, designation, date of joining as a provisional employee, corresponding level in the pay matrix, remuneration, marital status, correspondence address, mobile number, DDO code, P.E. ID number under IFMIS, and the name of your office and department.
3. Get Form-I signed and sealed by your HOD, HOO or DDO, and submit it to the Nodal Office through the DDO. The employee does not send it directly.
4. Submit Form-II, the nomination form, in triplicate, countersigned by the HOD, HOO or DDO. Where you have a family, the nomination must be in favour of one or more family members as defined in the GPF Rules, and if you name more than one nominee you must state the share payable to each.
5. Collect your 9-digit unique number. The Nodal Office enters you in the Index Register (Form-III), allots the number, sends it to the Fund Manager for registration, and gives a copy of the allotment to your DDO.
6. Open the dedicated savings account with the Fund Manager, as required by paragraph 4.7.

There is no online application. The route is entirely paper-based through your office, and the Finance Department (APF) is the authority for any doubt about the procedure.

How is the money actually moved?

MPESS runs through the regular treasury chain, which is why members rarely have to do anything after enrolment.

• The DDO prepares a deduction schedule in triplicate in Form-IV, attaches it to the wages bill, and submits the bill with challans and schedules to the treasury.
• The Treasury Officer passes the bill, checks the accounting classification, and sends a copy of the challan (Form-IV) and the deduction schedule (Form-V) to the Nodal Office on or before the 20th of the month following the month to which the bill relates.
• The Nodal Office reconciles the schedule against the challan, draws the contribution, credits it to its dedicated bank account and remits it onward to the Fund Manager.
• The Fund Manager credits the contribution to the member's individual account for investment and sends Assets Under Management reports to the Nodal Office every month.

How do I take money out of MPESS?

Partial withdrawal is allowed on strict conditions:

• Not more than one-fourth (25 per cent) of the balance in the account at the time of application.
• A maximum of two times during the entire service.
• Only for members who have been subscribing for not less than five years.
• Only for four specified reasons, higher education of children, marriage of self or children, purchase or construction of a residential house, or treatment of illness of self or family members.
• Applied for in Form-VI, routed through the DDO, HOO or HOD, with a declaration by the head of office verifying the genuineness of the reason and an authorisation by the Nodal Office.

Exit withdrawal has three categories:

• Superannuation or regularisation. The accumulated savings wealth is paid in a lump sum to the member.
• Pre-mature exit, meaning removal, resignation or similar exit before superannuation age — again paid in a lump sum to the member.
• Death, the accumulated savings are paid in a lump sum to the nominee or nominees, and failing a valid nomination, to the legal heirs.

Exit claims are made in Form-VII by the member and Form-VIII by a claimant after the member's death, both routed through the HOD, HOO or DDO. For a superannuation, regularisation or resignation claim, a certified copy of the office order must be enclosed. For a death claim, a certified copy of the death certificate is required, together with a declaration by the head of office that no court order restrains payment.

All withdrawals are routed through the Nodal Office, and the amount released by the Fund Manager reaches the member or claimant by NEFT or RTGS.

Why MPESS enrolments and claims get delayed

• Form-I not submitted on joining. The scheme requires it immediately on joining, and a late form means the unique number and Fund Manager registration are both delayed.
• No countersignature or office seal on Form-I or Form-II. The Nodal Office will not process an uncountersigned form.
• Nomination made in favour of a non-family member while the member has a family. Paragraph 11.2 does not permit this.
• Shares not specified where more than one nominee is named.
• Partial withdrawal applied for before five years of membership, or for a reason outside the four permitted purposes.
• A third partial withdrawal request, only two are allowed in a whole career.
• Mismatch between the deduction schedule and the challan, which the Nodal Office has to reconcile before the contribution reaches the Fund Manager.

The fix in almost every case runs through your own DDO, because the DDO is the only channel between a provisional employee and the Nodal Office.

Where do I get help or raise a grievance?

Paragraph 14 of the scheme is the formal grievance route: if any doubt arises, or any difficulty comes up in interpreting the provisions, or any point needs clarification, the matter is referred to the Finance Department (APF), Government of Mizoram, whose decision is final and binding.

In practice the sequence is:

1. Ask your DDO or head of office first, since they hold your Form-I, Form-II and deduction records.
2. Escalate to the Nodal Office, which holds the Index Register and the unique number allotment.
3. Refer the matter to the Finance Department (APF) for a binding interpretation.

Enrolment, nomination and withdrawal under MPESS are free. No fee is prescribed anywhere in the scheme for joining, for changing a nomination, which can be done at any time by submitting a fresh form, or for making a withdrawal claim.