EPFO Pension: The Minister of State for Finance said, the government for the first time in 2014 gave a minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month to pensioners under EPS, 1995. The Labor Ministry had proposed to double the pension to Rs 2,000 per month under EPS-95. But it was not approved.
EPFO Pension Update: The employees union has been demanding for a long time to increase the minimum pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) 1995 for employees and retirees. On the issue of increase in pension amount, MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked a question related to increasing the minimum pension amount under EPS, 1995 in the Lok Sabha. He asked whether the government has received any application from pensioners under EPS, 1995 regarding the request for increase in minimum pension? Apart from this, he also sought details of the proposal related to increasing the pension.
Response of Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary
In response to the question, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that the Ministry of Labor and Employment has received a request to increase the minimum pension amount under EPS. Trade unions are also included among those who made the request. Owaisi sought information on the assessment of the government’s representation to increase the EPS based on the observations and conclusions of the 30th report of the Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development.
Pension fund to be 8.33 per cent of employer’s PF
The minister said in his reply, ‘EPS, 1995 is a ‘defined contribution-defined benefit’ social security scheme. The corpus of this Employees’ Pension Fund is made up of a contribution of 8.33 per cent of the salary made by the employer. The second is created by the central government through budgetary support of 1.16 per cent of the salary up to an amount of Rs 15,000 per month. All benefits under the scheme are paid from this fund. The fund is evaluated every year. It is mandatory under paragraph 32 of EPS, 1995 and there is an actuarial deficit as per the valuation of the fund on March 31, 2019.
Labour Ministry’s proposal not approved
The MP sought information about the government’s intentions to allocate funds for increasing pension under EPS, 1995. If yes, then he also sought information about the reasons behind this decision. In response to this, the minister said, ‘The government first gave a minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month to pensioners under EPS, 1995 in 2014. The Center had announced a minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month for pensioners under EPS, 1995 in September 2014. However, the Labor Ministry had proposed to double the pension to Rs 2,000 per month under EPS-95. But it was not approved.
