New Delhi: Employee unions have long advocated for increasing the minimum pension amount under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995, with representations from employees and other stakeholders.

Regarding an increase in the pension amount, Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi raised questions in the Lok Sabha about any proposal to increase the minimum pension amount under EPS, 1995. He asked about any pensioner representations under EPS, 1995, requesting an increase in the minimum pension amount and seeking details of the proposed proposal.

Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, stated that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has received representations from stakeholders, including trade unions, requesting an increase in the minimum pension amount under the EPS.

Owaisi inquired about the government’s assessment of representations to increase EPS pensions, based on the observation by the Standing Committee on Labour, Textile and Skill Development’s 30th report, and its findings.

In his reply, the minister said, “the EPS, 1995 is a ‘Defined Contribution-Defined Benefit’ Social Security Scheme. The corpus of the Employees’ Pension Fund is made up of (i) contribution by the employer @ 8.33 per cent of wages; and (ii) contribution from Central Government through budgetary support @ 1.16 per cent of wages up to an amount of Rs 15,000/- per month. All benefits under the scheme are paid out of such accumulations. The fund is valued annually as mandated under paragraph 32 of the EPS, 1995 and as per the valuation of the fund as on 31.03.2019, there is an actuarial deficit.”

The parliamentarian inquired about the government’s intentions to allocate funds for an increase in pension under the EPS, 1995, and if so, the reasons behind this decision.

The Minister replied, “Government, for the first time, in the year 2014, provided a minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month to the pensioners under the EPS, 1995 by providing budgetary support, which was in addition to the budgetary support of 1.16 per cent of wages provided annually towards EPS to Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO).”

Minimum pension of Rs 1,000 under EPS95

The central government announced a minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month for pensioners under EPS, 1995 in September 2014. However, the labour ministry proposed doubling the pension to Rs 2,000 per month under EPS-95, but it was not approved.

New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has made a net addition of 1.85 million members in August, an increase of 9.07% year-on-year (YoY).

The ministry of labour and employment said that EPFO enrolled around 930,000 new members in August, with an increase of 0.48% in the new members from August 2023.

The net figure is made up of both new members, and those who have rejoined after leaving work.

Surge in membership

“This surge in new memberships can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO ‘s successful outreach programs,” said the statement.

The data showed that people from the 18-25 age group constituted about 59.26% of the total new members added in August 2024. Further, the net payroll data for the age group 18-25 for August 2024 is about 806,000.

“This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers,” the ministry said.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data reveals that out of the new members added during the month under review, around 253,000 are new female members, indicating a growth of 3.75% in the addition of new female members in August 2023. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 379,000, with 10.41% year-on-year growth. The surge in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

The payroll data further highlighted that around 1.35 million members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO. This figure depicts year-over-year growth of 14.03% compared to August 2023.

These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection.

In terms of state-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that net member addition in the top five states or union territories constitutes around 59.17% of net member addition, adding a total around 1.09 million net members during the month. Of the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.59% of net members during the month. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh individually added more than 5% of the total net members during August.