CITU urges Santosh Gangwar to implement loyalty-cum-life benefits under EDLI

Centre for Indian Trade Union has urged Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar to implement loyalty-cum-life benefits under Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) run by retirement fund body EPFO.

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) trustees had decided in April last year to provide loyaltycumlife benefit of up to Rs 50,000 to subscribers at the time of retirement for contributing to the scheme for 20 years or more.

They had also decided that the benefit will also be provided in case of permanent disability even if the members have contributed for less than 20 years. But, the EPFO's apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees headed by Union Labour Minister has not implemented it so far.

"The CITU records its vehement protest against such blatant rejection/turning down of unanimous decision of CBT and urges upon you to intervene to ensure that the 'Loyalty cum Life' benefit under EDLI scheme as decided unanimously by CBT is implemented forthwith through separate notification in the interest of fairness and propriety," CITU General Secretary Tapen Sen said in a letter to Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar.

According to the proposal, loyalty-cum-life benefit will be provided to all those members on retirement at 58 or 60 years who have contributed to the scheme for 20 years or more.

"On 26th June 2018, in the meeting of CBT, you have reportedly informed that the government or in that matter the Law Ministry and Finance Ministry have rejected/turned down that unanimous recommendation of CBT, without assigning any reason whatsoever...

"It was made clear in that meeting itself that the above EDLI benefit is financially sustainable and workable. Therefore, the rejection or turning down by the government the unanimous recommendation of CBT on EDLI benefit to be totally and sustainably funded by workers' own savings with EPFO is totally unjust, unfounded besides being autocratic, which may please be taken note of," Sen said in the letter.

Those members whose average basic wages are up to Rs 5,000 will get loyalty-cum-life benefit of Rs 30,000. Similarly, the members with wages of Rs 5,00110,000 will be eligible for Rs 40,000 benefit.

All those members getting more than Rs 10,000 monthly wage will be eligible for Rs 50,000 loyaltycumlife benefit under the proposed scheme.

The board had recommended such benefits in view of a huge EDLI corpus of Rs 18,119 crore (at that time) following addition of interest that accrued on investment of this fund.

In the present scenario, the dependants of the deceased get a sum assured of up to Rs 6 lakh. There is no provision of minimum insurance and any benefit for surviving members or in cases of permanent disability under the scheme.