For some reason, I personally do not favor things like NPS where you contribute the money but you can withdraw only 40% of the corpus at 60 years. Additional withdrawal of 20% is allowed but is also taxed. So you cannot rely on your own saving to save your ass if there is crisis in the family (you can withdraw only 20% before 60 yrs). Also, this fund is managed by AMCs like Icici and HDFC. The only benefit I see is you get tax exemption under 80c which you would get even if you invested in ELSS.
Moreover, the government doesnt contribute anything to this fund.
However, its is fine to put small amounts into this and forget and not count on it for emergencies.