EPFO Employees Pension Scheme 1995 not enough, Parliamentary committee want more for public

A Parliamentary panel today asked the government to assess Employees Pension Scheme 1995 and consider revision of minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 under that, saying the social security benefit is too meagre to fulfil even basic needs. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour in its 34th report tabled in Parliament today said it is of the firm opinion that this (Rs 1,000) is too meagre an amount which will not be able to fulfil even the basic monthly needs and requirements of a pensioner.

The committee recommended that government undertake an assessment of the pension scheme with particular reference to the right of sustenance of the pensioners and based on the result, consider revision of the amount accordingly. Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had started providing minimum monthly pension of Rs 1000 under the Employees Pension Scheme 1995 from September 1, 2014. The committee also suggested that government should take a policy decision to pay such workers whose employers have not contributed towards social security schemes run by the EPFO and the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) from the fixed assets or deposits of crores still lying with the appropriate authorities.

The panel noted that there have been reported instances wherein the employers have not been depositing the PF contribution deducted from the wages of the employee in the PF account, while simultaneously defaulting on their won contributions as well. It also noted that in the last two year, the EPFO has received 2497 such complaints, out of which 924 have been acted upon.

The panel also recommended that a list of defaulters should also be displayed on the website of Labour Ministry/EPFO. The panel also asked to expedite that all modalities for setting up national platform for unorganised workers and allotment of an Aadhaar seeded identification number (U-WIN) to informal sector workers.
It said that the national database of unorganised sector workers is vital for their welfare and security.