As many as 44,74,859 jobs were created during the months September 2017 to April 2018, as per the payroll data released by retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EFPO). The data states that approximately 41,261,138 new members have enrolled in its social security schemes to receive benefits, including provident funds, insurance and pension.
As per data released by the body yesterday, 7,43,608 new members enrolled in the month of May, the highest number of enrolments in a month so far. 2,51,526 new enrolments were recorded in the age bracket 18-21 years, followed by 1,90,090 in the 22-25 year bracket.
However, the body also lowered earlier estimates of new member enrolment from 41,261,138 to 37,31,251, a drop which translates to approximately 9.57%.
The statement also mentions that the data provided is provisional, as updating employee records is a continuous process, and will be updated in the subsequent months. It also stated that these estimates may include temporary employees who may not contribute throughout the whole year. For each age-wise band, the estimates are a total of the members enrolled and ceased during the month as per the EPFO records, it added.
The EFPO manages social security funds for workers in the Indian organised/semi organised sector. It administers a contributory provident fund (Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme 1952), pension scheme (Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS)) and an insurance scheme (Insurance Scheme 1976 (EDLI)) for the workforce engaged in the organized sector in India. It is one of the World’s largest Social Security Organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions undertaken. At present, it maintains more than 15 crore accounts pertaining to its members.
Complying with its vision to extend the reach and quality of publicly managed old age security programs, earlier this year the EPFO had started the practice of updating payroll data on its official portal.