EPFO launches minimum pension in Bengal

KOLKATA: The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), West Bengal, on Tuesday introduced a minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month for its pensioners.
Apart from increasing the minimum pension amount, the wage ceiling of the social security schemes of EPFO has been raised from Rs 6,500 per month to Rs 15,000 per month. Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy, BJP MP Babul Supriyo, additional central PF commissioner V Vijayakumar, former central Provident Fund Commissioner B N Som and others were present at a programme where the decisions were announced.
V Vijayakumar, the additional central PF commissioner, West Bengal, said that there are 3.76 lakh pensioners in Bengal of which 2.27 lakh will be benefited by the new scheme of minimum pension. According to him, out of 49 lakh pensioners in the country, 32 lakh will be benefited under this scheme. It is expected that 50 lakh new employees will come under the social security scheme.
MP Sougata Roy said that he had earlier written to the ministry urging it to increase the pension amount as it was very low. Roy, however, said the employees are yet to get the bonus which is “stuck in the Union finance minister’s table” with nobody to release it.