SHILLONG: Along with the rest of the country, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, RW Syiem on Tuesday formally launched the scheme with guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month under Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995, which is expected to benefit 3506 pensioners in the State.
“At present, only around 729 pensioners are drawing monthly pension of Rs 1000 per month. A total number of 3506 pensioners will be benefitted from this Employees’ Provident Fund Organization’s (EPFO) new pension scheme,” Syiem told newsmen after the formal launching of the scheme.
He informed that most of the pensioners who will benefit from the scheme are currently drawing a pension of Rs 300 per month.
“As per the assessment, nearly two-thirds of the pensioners receive a pension of less than Rs 1000. Thus, the move would benefit approximately 32 lakh out of a total of 49 lakh pensioners who get less than Rs 1000 as pension,” Syiem added.
The wage ceiling for coverage under the three schemes of EPFO– Employees Provident Fund Scheme, Employees’ Pension Scheme and Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI)–has also been increased from monthly Rs 6500 to Rs 15000. This increased wage ceiling is expected to bring in an additional 50 lakh employees under the ambit of these social security programmes.
In the recent past EPFO has taken a series of measures to bring in greater transparency and efficiency in its functioning.
These include the facility for online registration of establishments (OLRE), Online Transfer Claim Portal (OTCP), e-passbook and electronic payment of PF and Pension benefits through NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer) and CBS (Core Banking Solution).
