ESIC scheme adds 15.26 lakh new members in December: NSO reports

ESIC scheme: The new members joined the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) run social security scheme in December 2021, according to official data released on Friday. The figure is roughly 15.26 lakh, against 10.39 lakh in the previous month, giving insight into the formal sector of the country, as per PTI reported.

According to the news agency, the most recent statistics is part of a report published by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The gross new enrolments with ESIC were 10.73 lakh in April, 8.94 lakh in May, 11.07 lakh in June, 13.23 lakh in July, 13.51 lakh in August, 13.60 lakh in September, and 12.08 lakh in October 2021, according to the most recent data.

The enrolments increased in June, July, and August after the governments eased COVID-induced restrictions during the second wave of the pandemic, which reached the country in mid-April last year, as PTI said.

According to the NSO data, gross enrolments of new ESIC subscribers were 1.15 crore in 2020-21, up from 1.51 crore in 2019-20 and 1.49 crore in 2018-19.

New subscribers joined the ESIC plan between September 2017 and March 2018. The number is around 83.35 lakh.

According to the report, 6.08 crore additional ESIC enrolments were made between September 2017 and December 2021.

The NSO report is based on payroll data from new subscribers to ESIC, EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority's (PFRDA) of different social security systems, as PTI mentioned.

Since April 2018, it has begun publishing statistics from these bodies, covering the period beginning in September 2017.

According to the data cited by PTI, net new enrolments in the EPFO retirement fund increased to 14.60 lakh in December 2021 from 12.17 lakh in November 2021.

Roughly 4.98 crores (gross) new subscribers joined the Employees' Provident Fund system between September 2017 and December 2021, shown in the report.

According to the report, titled 'Payroll Reporting in India: An Employment Perspective - November 2021,' there are components of overlap and the estimates are not additive because the number of subscribers comes from various sources.

The study also presents differing viewpoints on the levels of employment in the formal sector, according to the NSO, and does not measure employment holistically, PTI said.