The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a scheme that would entail the government paying Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions of both the employee and employer for two years for new workers hired from October 1 to June 30, 2021.
Announcing the decision taken by the Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana would boost the economy and formal employment.
The Cabinet approved spending ₹1,548 crore for the current financial year, while the whole scheme would have an expenditure of ₹22,810 crore from 2020 to 2023, he said. It would benefit “lakhs” of workers, he added.
For companies that employ up to 1,000 workers, the government would pay the entire contribution – 12% of wages paid by the employee and the employer each. For establishments with over 1,000 workers,it would pay the 12% share of the employee alone. The scheme would apply to those earning less than ₹15,000 a month.
The Employees Provident Fund Organisation would credit the amount into the Aadhaar-seeded accounts of the members and develop a software for the scheme to make it transparent, a government statement said.
The scheme had been announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in November as an effort to boost employment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
