EPFO plans to hire social media agency

EPFO's Central Board of Trustees will consider a proposal on July 7 to appoint a professional agency for managing its social media presence on Facebook and Twitter to avoid communication gaps.

The development comes in the wake of protests and street violence in Bengaluru earlier this year, following EPFO's order on tightening of rules for withdrawing provident fund money. Later, the Labour Ministry had to roll back the order.

"The proposal to engage an agency to manage social media platforms -- Facebook and Twitter -- for EPFO is listed on the agenda of the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees' headed by Labour Minister on July 7," a senior Labour Ministry official said.

"The proposal is mooted in the backdrop of communication gap which led to the Bengaluru violence recently. The agency will be hired collectively by ESIC, EPFO and Labour Ministry for estimated cost of Rs 3 crore per annum," the official said.

The cost of managing social media will be shared equally between the ESIC, EPFO and Labour Ministry, the official added.

The agenda also includes proposals on organisational restructuring of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).

The official said that the EPFO has identified 13 offices which can be further restructured into 'manageable units' like the Bandra office in Maharashtra.

Besides, there is a proposal to appoint a joint secretary level officer for each state where concentration of formal sector workers is very high to improve its service delivery.

The official said that the committee set up to oversee ongoing organisational restructuring will table its report at the meeting.

The Central Board of Trustees will also vet the proposal for a campaign for creating awareness about the social security schemes run by it along with various other initiatives.