The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Thursday said it had added around 11.22 lakh net subscribers in March 2021, taking the total net additions in financial year 2020-2021 to 77.08 lakh.
“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, cumulative net payroll addition for FY 2021 is almost at par with last year, with 77.08 lakh net additions to the subscriber base. Quarterly analysis of payroll for the FY 2020-21 indicates that net subscribers addition improved consistently from second quarter after taking a hit in the first quarter due to crisis of COVID-9 pandemic,” the EPFO said.
Of the 11.22 lakh net additions in March, about 7.16 lakh were new members joining for the first time, it said. The EPFO statement said the highest net additions were in the age group of 22 to 25 years, with 3.14 lakh subscribers from the category joining in March.
“This is followed by age group of 18-21 with around 2.29 lakh net enrolments. The members of 18-25 age groups have contributed around 48.44 % of the net subscriber additions in March 2021. Members of these age groups are considered as fresh hands in the market and signifies a crucial stage for an individual’s potential in terms of earning capacity,” it said.
About 21% of the net additions in March were women. The industries that contributed to the additions were iron ore mines, courier services, restaurants, road motor transport, petroleum and natural gas refining, iron and steel and establishments involved in manufacture, marketing and usage of computers, the EPFO said.
