Budget expectation: The government may consider acting on appeals by private sector employees for increase in minimum pension, which is currently fixed at Rs 1,000 per month.
The Modi government may reportedly consider acting on appeals by private sector employees covered under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for an increase in the minimum pension, which is currently fixed at Rs 1,000 per month. For this, a delegation of EPS-95 pensioners met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on January 10, 2025 as part of the pre-budget consultation meeting, reports Financial Express.
Minimum monthly pension should be Rs 7,500
Their request was for a minimum monthly pension of Rs 7,500, an increase in dearness allowance (DA) and free medical treatment for both pensioners and their spouses. Nirmala Sitharaman assured the EPS-95 National Movement Committee that their demands would be reviewed.
The report said trade unions also met the finance minister during the session but advocated for increasing the pension to Rs 5,000 per month. This attracted criticism from the EPS-95 National Movement Committee, which considered the amount inadequate, unfair and not enough to meet the basic needs of pensioners.
More than 36.60 lakh pensioners do not get minimum monthly pension
The report quoted EPFO as claiming that despite the government’s announcement of fixing the minimum monthly pension at Rs 1,000 in 2014, over 36.60 lakh pensioners still get less than this amount.
How much of PF goes into Employee Pension Scheme
EPF members contribute 12% of their basic salary to the provident fund, while the employer contributes an equal amount. The employer’s contribution itself is divided into two parts, with 8.33% allocated to the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), while 3.67% goes towards the EPF scheme.
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