A committee of Parliament on Tuesday said that giving Rs 1,000 as minimum monthly pension to the subscribers under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) pension scheme is too low.
In such a situation, it is necessary that the Ministry of Labor takes forward the proposal to increase the pension amount.
A committee of Parliament on Tuesday said that giving Rs 1,000 as minimum monthly pension to the subscribers under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) pension scheme is too low. In such a situation, it is necessary that the Ministry of Labor takes forward the proposal to increase the pension amount. This will benefit 7 crore PF holders.
Rs 1,000 pension too low
Parliament’s Standing Committee on Labor in its report tabled in Parliament on Demands for Grants 2022-23 said, “The monthly pension of Rs 1,000 fixed eight years ago is now too low.
According to the parliamentary committee, it is necessary for the Ministry of Labor and Employment to take forward the matter with adequate budgetary support from the Finance Ministry as per the recommendation of the high-powered monitoring committee.
Recommendation to increase pension to Rs.2,000
Apart from this, EPFO should evaluate all pension schemes through experts so that the monthly member pension can be increased to the appropriate extent.
The Labor Ministry had constituted a high-powered monitoring committee in the year 2018 to evaluate and review the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995.
The committee had recommended in the report that the minimum monthly pension for members/widow/widow pensioners be increased to Rs.2,000. Necessary annual budgetary provisions should be made for this.
Several committees discussed in detail
However, the Finance Ministry did not agree to increase the minimum monthly pension from Rs 1,000. According to the parliamentary committee, many committees have discussed this in detail. From this the same conclusion comes that unless there is a proper assessment of surplus / deficit of EPFO’s pension scheme from experts, review of monthly pension cannot be done.
The report also said that EPFO members, especially those who retired before 2015, are facing difficulties for ‘e-nomination’. Along with this, difficulties are also being faced in the functioning of ‘Online Transfer Claim Portal’ (OTCP).
The Parliamentary Committee appreciated the efforts of EPFO for greater use of information technology tools along with the Digital India initiative. It also suggested that the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization should make more efforts for reforms to remove the problems related to ‘nomination’ electronically.
