AatmaNirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana to support pandemic-affected workforce

Taking into consideration that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the loss of stable income for daily wage earners and that a large number of small as well as micro-enterprises have pulled the shutters down, the government has announced several AatmaNirbhar Bharat schemes to make workers self-reliant and in due course revitalize the economy.

Union government will contribute on the behalf of establishments in EPFO fund till 30th June next year. The Government will also provide subsidy for two years for newly eligible employees engaged after October 1, 2020 as under:

For establishments up to 1000 employees, 12 percent of wages as employee’s contributions, and 12 percent of wages as employer’s contributions will be given by the government. For establishments with more than 1000 employees, only 12 percent of wages as employee’s contribution will be given by the government.   The eligible new employees will receive subsidy support upfront in their Aadhaar seeded EPFO Account (UAN).

The beneficiaries under these schemes include those employees of EPFO registered enterprises whose total monthly wages are less than Rs 15000. The scheme also includes the workers with a monthly salary of less than Rs 15000 who lost their jobs between March 1 to September 30.

Such schemes have been welcomed by employees and entrepreneurs alike. One such employee in a private firm  Narayanan said the government should remove the Rs 15000 monthly salary cap to benefit more employees. Such a step will not only become instrumental in creating new job opportunities but also help in supporting the entrepreneurs to start new enterprises.