Page 5 - Social Security

Process of applying for higher pension on unified portal simple: Ministry

The process of applying for higher pension on the unified portal of EPFO is "simple and easy to understand" and as per the Supreme Court's order last year, Parliament was informed on Monday amid the criticism of unfeasible requirements on the portal. Following the Supreme Court order in November 2022, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had given option to subscribers and their employers to jointly opt for higher contributions as per the actual basic wages (higher than threshold of Rs 15,000 per month) on the unified portal. "The process in unified portal for submission of joint options for higher pension is simple and easy to understand and contains simple requirements as per provisions of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme, 1952, Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 and the judgment of the Supreme Court on November 4, 2022," said Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The minister said that for convenience

Rajasthan govt tables country's first gig workers bill for social security

Rajasthan government on Friday tabled the Rajasthan Platform Based GIG Workers (registration and welfare) Bill, 2023 country's first such which seeks to guarantee social security to gig workers. The bill provisions for monetary penalties if an aggregator fails to comply with the Act. The state government may impose a fine up to Rs 5 lakh for the first contravention and up to Rs 50 lakh for subsequent contravention. Under the bill, the state will constitute a 'The Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers Welfare Board' which will ensure registration of gig workers and aggregators operating in the state. The bill also aims to set up a welfare fee deduction mechanism that will be integrated with the aggregator app. The government also seeks to set up a monitoring mechanism to review compliance of provisions of the Act and to verify if the welfare fee is being deducted regularly. The bill says that a part of the welfare fee will be contributed by the aggregator on the basis of each ...

Providing social protection to people a key aspect of 2030 Agenda: PM Modi

G20 labour ministers adopt outcome document, resolve to address skill gaps globally, protection for gig workers

Social security schemes safeguard underprivileged financially: Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said three social security schemes, including PMJJBY and PMSBY, aim to provide essential financial services to citizens especially underprivileged and safeguard them against unforeseen risks, losses, and financial uncertainties. Three social security (Jan Suraksha) schemes -- Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) -- were launched on May 9, 2015. The three schemes are dedicated to the welfare of the citizens, recognising the need for securing human life from unforeseen eventualisation and financial uncertainties. In order to ensure that the people from the unorganised section of the country are financially secure, the government launched two insurance schemes -- PMJJBY and PMSBY; and also introduced APY to cover the exigencies in the old age. Speaking on the 8th anniversary of Jan Suraksha schemes, the finance minister said, these schemes aim to provid

Here's why India's gig workforce is still outside purview of basic benefits

The Social Security Code of 2020 offered guidelines to companies for gig work

G20 members discuss resolving social security portability, gender gap

Members of G20 grouping called on plugging the gender gap in the global workforce and resolving portability of social security, an official statement said on Monday. The Labour20 (L20) engagement group's inception meet in Amritsar, Punjab, as part of India's G20 presidency, adopted two joint statements as the final outcome of the two-day deliberations ended on Monday, the Labour Ministry said. Representatives from Russia, India, Australia, Nepal and Bangladesh shared their national experiences on wages and various dimensions, particularly the impact on livelihoods at the event, it said. The joint statements called for resolving the question of portability of social security among G20 nations as a first step towards universalisation of social security, and another for plugging the gender gap in the global workforce, it said. Trade union leaders, labour studies experts and delegates from 20 nations at the Labour20 inception meeting under India's G20 presidency deliberated the ...

L20 adopts joint statement on universalisation of social security

The inception meeting will be followed by an L-20 summit in June before the G-20 labour ministers meeting in the latter part of the year

Social security, labour migration to top discussions at first L-20 meeting

The two-day meet will feature leaders and representatives of trade union centres of G-20 countries and other guest countries

EPFO board likely to decide interest rate for FY23 on March 25, 26

Sources said that the interest rate is unlikely to go below 8 per cent level amid a rising interest rate scenario across the globe

FinMin meets private sector bankers, reviews progress of flagship schemes

The finance ministry on Tuesday held a meeting with private sector lenders to review progress made by them under the flagship financial inclusion and social security schemes. "Dr. Vivek Joshi, Secretary DFS chaired a meeting today with the representatives of Private Sector Banks, Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks to review the progress made by them under various Financial Inclusion initiatives (PMJDY, PMJJBY, PMSBY, APY, PM SVANidhi, etc.)," Department of Financial Services said in a tweet. Last week, Joshi met heads of public sector banks and urged them to achieve targets under various schemes for current financial year. During the meeting, progress of various social security (Jan Suraksha) schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri MUDRA and Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi), and Agri credit etc, we

Washington county mistakenly releases nearly half million partial SSNs

A county in Washington inadvertently released nearly half a million partial Social Security Numbers when responding to a routine public records request in December, according to county officials. The Pierce County Auditor's Office, which mistakenly released the sensitive data, said in a news release that the human error was quickly spotted and that the person who received the SSN digits deleted them within two hours. The requester had not asked for the personal information. First let me say that I am incredibly sorry that this happened, Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer said in statement. Farmer added that this was not a targeted hack, and that "we have taken steps to ensure it does not happen again. The Social Security number information was included in a routine request for publicly available voter registration data, which typically includes names, addresses and birth dates. Personally identifiable information, including Social Security number information, which can be used to ..

Union Budget 2023: Experts don't expect surprises in social sector outlay

While experts believe that provision for various social schemes may go up, the sector is unlikely to see any major announcements

Focus on labour reforms, social security for informal workers in 2023

Expanding the social security coverage for unorganised workers and pursuing states to make rules for labour codes will be the key priorities for the government in 2023, as efforts continue to strengthen the country's labour market. With India set to host G-20 leaders' summit for the first time next year, the Union labour ministry will also pursue key employment-related agenda touching upon global skill gaps, gig and platform economy, sustainable financing of social security schemes and other issues. "Our efforts will be to cover a large number of unorganised sector workers under the ambit of social security schemes in 2023 and provide them with eligible benefits online. We want to make processes paperless in the ministry," Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav told PTI. The four labour codes on social security, industrial relations, wages, and Occupational Safety Health & Working Conditions (OSH) have already been cleared by Parliament but they can be implemented ...

Low Payments, no respect: Why quality of free legal aid in districts is bad

About 20% of legal aid counsels identified a lack of infrastructure, such as designated chambers for interacting with clients

Ahead of budget, economists demand increase in social security pension

Ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24, 51 eminent economists have written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and demanded an increase in social security pensions and an adequate provision for maternity benefits. The signatory of the letter includes Jean Drze (honorary professor, Delhi School of Economics), Pranab Bardhan (professor emeritus of economics, University of California Berkeley), R Nagaraj (professor of economics, IGIDR, Mumbai), Reetika Khera (professor of economics, IIT, Delhi), and Sukhadeo Thorat (professor emeritus, JNU), among others. "This is a follow-up to our letters of 20 December 2017 and 21 December 2018 (addressed to your predecessor, Shri Arun Jaitley), where we tried to flag two priorities for the next Union Budget: an increase in social security pensions, and adequate provision for maternity benefits. "Since both proposals were ignored, we are writing again, well in advance of the next Budget, with the same recommendations." the letter said. According to t

Centre to soon merge social security contributions by small firms: Report

Currently, the companies have to make separate payments towards the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)

EPFO aims to invest more in equity for younger members, expand horizon

At present, EPFO is allowed to invest between 5-15 per cent of its investible deposits in equity instruments irrespective of the age or risk profile of its members

ESIC-run social security scheme adds 1.46 mn new members in Aug: Report

Around 14.62 lakh new members joined the ESIC-run social security scheme in August 2022, according to official data released on Tuesday. The latest data is part of a report -- Payroll Reporting in India: An Employment Perspective - August 2022 -- released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). It showed that the gross new enrolments with Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) rose to 1.49 crore in 2021-22, from 1.15 crore in 2020-21. It was 1.51 crore in 2019-20 and 1.49 crore in 2018-19. From September 2017 to March 2018, around 83.35 lakh new subscribers joined the ESIC scheme. The report said gross new enrolments with ESIC from September 2017 to August 2022 were 7.22 crore. The NSO report is based on the payroll data of new subscribers of various social security schemes run by ESIC, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). According to the report, net new enrolments with retirement fund body

Punjab govt decides to restore old pension scheme for its employees

The Punjab government on Friday took an in-principle decision to restore the old pension scheme for its employees. Giving a Diwali gift, the government has decided to implement the old pension scheme, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced after a meeting of the state cabinet here. "We have taken in-principle decision to this effect in the cabinet meeting. This will benefit lakhs of employees...We are bringing Punjab under the old pension scheme," he said. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that employees will be given the option to join the old pension scheme. Mann, a month ago, had said that his government is considering restoring the scheme for government employees. Restoration of the old pension scheme, which was discontinued in 2004, has been one of the major demands of state government employees. In August last year, Cheema, a senior Aam Aadmi Party leader, had promised to restore the old pension system if the party was voted to power in Punjab.

ESIC to expand its reach in over 750 districts of country: Labour Minister

The 350 bedded hospital will be spread over 9.5 acres and would entail an expenditure of Rs 500 crore