NEW DELHI: In an attempt to provide social security and welfare to more workers, the labour ministry has fixed physical targets for FY25 for its three main flagship programs — employee pension scheme (EPS), National Career Services (NCS), and eShram, an official source said.
In FY25, the ministry aims to increase the EPS’ beneficiaries pool to 8.14 million pensioners (from around 7.9 million currently), register about 6 million new workers to eShram portal, and increase the vacancies available on NCS to 12.5 million from 10 million in FY24, the source said. “These targets are achievable…it will help us in progressing in a focused manner,” the person said.
The EPS is a social security initiative offered by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The scheme aims to provide monetary support to formal sector employees, by providing them a pension post-retirement. Since 2014, the government has been providing a minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month to pensioners under the EPS.
Experts say the expansion of the EPS will require robust administrative mechanisms to handle the increased volume of beneficiaries. “This includes ensuring timely and accurate disbursement of pensions, a logistical challenge that must be met with efficiency and technological support,” said Akshay Jain, partner, Saraf and Partners.
Vinay Joy, partner, Khaitan & Co said that the EPS target would largely be dependent upon the success of the government in achieving the targets proposed in the NCS and the eShram portal as this would automatically have the benefit of bringing more people under the umbrella of the EPS.
The eShram portal is a centralised database of about 30 million unorganised workers, which is integrated with several social security schemes. The government, however, is keen to link the portal with more such schemes.
As of now, eShram is integrated with National Career Service (NCS), Skill India, Digital, and PMSYM (Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan). But the government is willing to integrate it with PM Vishwakarma, PM SVANidhi, and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) among others, to develop the portal as “one stop solution” for unorganised workers, an official had told FE earlier.
The NCS, meanwhile, is a portal that provides a wide array of employment and career related services to the jobseekers. Launched in 2015, it works towards bridging the gap between jobseekers and employers, candidates seeking training and career guidance, agencies providing training and career counselling.
Experts say that scaling up the NCS to accommodate more vacancies will demand enhanced interfacing capabilities with various industries and sectors. It will also require continuous updating of the skills database to reflect the evolving needs of the economy, ensuring that the workforce remains competitive and adaptable, they say.
Khaitan’s Joy said that registering more workers and increasing the number of vacancies in itself would not automatically result in more job creation, thus the labour ministry needs to work closely with the skill development ministry to develop the required skills needed for the jobs.
Saraf’s Jain said that these targets are aimed to not only secure the future of the country’s workforce but also potentially improve India’s standing in global indices measuring social security.
Source: The Financial Express
