Private sector employees are urging the government to address their pension concerns as it works on developing the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for public sector workers. Currently, private employees covered under the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) receive only a modest pension through the Employees Pension Scheme (EPS), and they are calling for a significant increase in their monthly payouts.
The Chennai EPF Pensioners Welfare Association recently submitted a letter to Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, requesting that the minimum pension be raised to Rs 9,000. At present, the EPS scheme covers around 75 lakh employees across the country. The association argues that while 23 lakh central government employees will benefit from the upcoming UPS, workers under EPS 1995 in the private sector also deserve stronger pension support.
In their letter, the association urged that this issue be brought directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention. This follows a protest by the National Agitation Committee of EPS-95 in Delhi last July, where the group demanded a minimum pension hike to Rs 7,500. The committee represents approximately 78 lakh retired pensioners from Maharashtra and advocates for around 7.5 crore industrial sector employees across the country.
Currently, under the EPS 1995 scheme, the minimum pension is set at Rs 1,000, a figure introduced by the central government in 2014. While the Labour Ministry proposed raising this to Rs 2,000 last year, the Finance Ministry has yet to approve the increase.
Currently, the PF deduction applies to salaries starting at Rs 15,000, but there is a proposal to raise this threshold to Rs 21,000. If approved, this change could provide greater pension benefits to private sector employees.
