Related to private sector employees, the most significant development is the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), which is thinking of a proposal for increasing the minimum pension that the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) currently provides-from ₹1,000 to ₹7,500. It is expected that this increase will change the financial condition of over 6 million pensioners, and it has really addressed one such issue concerning retirement benefits.
Background And Justification
Minimum pension of ₹1,000 as was put into place over a year ago in 2014, currently does not satisfy many pensioners because the living expenses continue to gallop due to inflation. Such campaigns for increment are undertaken by pensioners’ associations and trade unions stressing the insistence of a more respectable post-retirement life. In view of the above, they are assessing the proposal by the government for the upward revision of the minimum pension to ₹7,500 as part of its involvement in the welfare of retired workers.
Government Interaction And Response
In January 2025, EPS-95 National Agitation Committee members met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss other demands, including increasing pensions, introducing a dearness allowance (DA), and provision of free medical facilities for retirees and their spouses. The Finance Minister assured the delegation that their grievances would be sympathetically addressed.
Legislative Endorsements And Suggestions
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour has also recommended increasing the minimum pension on grounds of significant increase in the cost of living since the last revision. The committee has also observed that this matter is urgent and recommended the Ministry of Labour and Employment and EPFO to speed up the process for timely relief to pensioners.
Execution And Future Anticipations
The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), EPFO, will meet very shortly to discuss this entire pension increase proposal, in which budgeting options, contribution rates alterations, as well as the overall fiscal viability of the EPS would be critically evaluated. Though it has not been set exactly when it would be enacted, these changes are expected to effect during the next financial year.
This pension hike will now put a giant footprint in the lives of millions of private sector employees in India’s retirement security.
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