Discussion on the improvement of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) pension has begun as of April 2, 2025, with pensioners and other stakeholders advocating for a significant increase in the minimum pension amount.
Current Pension Scenario
In the current situation, a minimum pension of ₹1,000 is awarded under Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS). Since this amount was determined in 2014, every such amount cannot be considered quite sufficient to meet basic needs by the pensioners as living expenses do not end with only the monthly expenses.
Demands for Pension Increase
Pensioners’ associations and other trade unions have taken up the issue of demanding an increase in the minimum pension, requesting something around ₹7,500 per month, and also dearness allowance (DA) to counterbalance the inflation.
In some other places, the demands even further go. EPFO pensioners in Nashik staged demonstrations outside the local EPFO office, ‘demanding an increase in their monthly pension from ₹1,000 to ₹9,000. They highlighted that one cannot manage daily expenses only on this amount of pension and called for other support measures such as free medical services and being included in the government’s food safety act.
Government and Parliamentary Response
These demands have also been acknowledged by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour. The committee recommended to the central government that the latter may think of revising the minimum pension upwards significantly, given the increase in the cost of living since 2014.
In a response to such appeals by pensioners, the government has now initiated measures to solve the problems of pensioners. The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), EPFO is meeting on the February 28, 2025, to discuss among other issues interest rates on provident fund deposits for the financial year 2024-25. Also likely to be a major agenda during the meeting would be the pension increase.
Conclusion
The call for an increased EPFO pension reflects the wider need to support retired employees who cannot afford the decent standard of living that thousands of workers earn when their expenses keep rising. The government does carry actions with regards to this situation, even so, by confirming higher pensions for some of these members; many pensioners are still waiting for a compre.
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