Employees Pension Scheme

Government had constituted an Expert Committee to review Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 which inter alia recommended providing minimum pension of Rs. 1000/- per month to the pensioners under EPS, 1995 and enhancing wage ceiling for coverage under the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions (EPF & MP), Act, 1952 from Rs. 6,500/- per month to Rs. 10,000/- per month. The Government has since implemented minimum pension of Rs. 1000/- per month to the member/disabled/widow/widower/ parent/nominee pensioners and Rs. 250/- per month for children pensioners and Rs. 750/- per month to orphan pensioners and increased wage ceiling for coverage under EPF&MP Act, 1952 from Rs.6,500 to Rs.15,000/.

The Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 has been calibrated time to time to make it robust. Moreover, Government has recently made the following amendments to the EPS, 1995:

• Wage ceiling for contributions to EPS, 1995 has been enhanced from Rs.6,500 to 15,000/- per month.

• Determination of pension based on average of 60 months’ salary prior to exit instead of 12 months’ salary earlier.

• Option for contributing on salary exceeding the wage ceiling has been deleted.

• Those members who were contributing on salary exceeding the wage ceiling are required to prefer fresh option and contribute 1.16 per cent of wages exceeding wage ceiling in lieu of the Government’s contribution.

• Pension and withdrawal benefits under EPS, 1995 to be determined on pro-rata basis for service at wage ceiling of Rs. 6,500/- per month upto 31.08.2014 and Rs. 15,000/- per month thereafter.

• Eligibility under EPS, 1995 is determined on the basis of contributory service instead of overall period of service.

• Widow Pension Table (Table C) under EPS, 1995 has been extended upto revised wage ceiling of Rs. 15,000/- per month.

The total number of pensioners under EPS, 1995 are 51,04,397 (Provisional) as on 31.3.2015.

The list of Nationalised Banks in which provision has been made for the retired employees drawing pension under Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is -

List of Pension Disbursing Agencies under Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995

S.No.	EPFO Regional Office	Pension Disbursing Banks
1	Delhi (North)	PNB, SBI, IB, UBI, HDFC, ICICI, AXIS
2	Delhi (South)	PNB, SBI, IB, UBI, HDFC, ICICI, AXIS
3	Dehradun	PNB, SBI
4	Gurgaon	PNB, SBI, HDFC, ICICI, AXIS
5	Faridabad	PNB, SBI, HDFC, ICICI, AXIS
6	Jaipur	PNB, Thar Gramin Bank, HDFC, ICICI, AXIS, SBBJ
7	Shimla	PNB, SBI, AXIS
8	Ludhiana	PNB, SBI, HDFC, AXIS
9	Chandigarh	PNB, SBI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
10	Bihar	PNB, BOI, HDFC
11	Meerut	PNB, SBI
12	Kanpur	PNB, SBI, HDFC, ICICI, AXIS
13	Hyderabad	SBI, UBI, AB, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
14	Guntur	SBI, AB, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
15	Nizamabad	SBI, SY. BANK, Gramin BANK, UBI, AB, AXIS
16	Bhuvneshwer	SBI, BOI, UCO Bank, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
17	Bangalore	SBI, CANARA, SY. BANK, CORP. BANK, VIJAYA BANK, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
18	Goa	SBI, BOI, HDFC
19	Gulbarga	SBI, CANARA, SY. BANK, ICICI,CORP. BANK
20	Mangalore	SBI, CANARA, SY. BANK, CORP. BANK, VIJAYA BANK, AXIS
21	Peenya	SBI, CANARA BANK, SY. BANK, CORP. BANK, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
22	Coimbatore	SBI, IB, IOB, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
23	Kerala	PNB, SBI, IB, IOB, CANARA, SY. BANK, FED.BANK, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI, North Malabar Gramin Bank, SBT
24	Madurai	SBI, IB, IOB, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
25	Tambram	SBI, IB, IOB, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
26	Chennai	SBI, IB, IOB, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
27	Ranchi	PNB, BOI, UBI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
28	Jalpaiguri	SBI, UBI, UCO, CBI, UBKG BANK
29	Kolkata	PNB, UBI, HDFC, AXIS,ICICI
30	Guwahati	SBI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
31	Raipur	PNB, SBI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI, CBI,
32	Bandra	PNB, SBI, BOI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI, BOM, IB
33	Thane	PNB, SBI, BOI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
34	Kandivali	PNB, SBI, BOI, HDFC, AXIS,ICICI
35	Pune	PNB, SBI, BOI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI, BOM
36	Nagpur	PNB, SBI, BOI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
37	Ahemdabad	SBI, DENA, HDFC
38	Surat	SBI, DENA, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI
39	Vadodara	SBI, DENA, HDFC
40	Indore	PNB, SBI, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI

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Increase in Child Labour

The number of working children in the age group of 5 to 14 years in the country is 43.53 lakh as per 2011 Census which shows a decline from 2001 Census. The number of working children in the age group of 5-14 years as per 2011 Census, State-wise is

Sl. No.	Name of State/UT	No. of working children in the age group of 5-14 years
•	Andaman & Nicobar Island	999
•	Andhra Pradesh **	404851
•	Arunachal Pradesh	5766
•	Assam	99512
•	Bihar	451590
•	Chandigarh U.T.	3135
•	Chhattisgarh	63884
•	Dadra & Nagar H.	1054
•	Daman & Diu U.T.	774
•	Delhi U.T.	26473
•	Goa	6920
•	Gujarat	250318
•	Haryana	53492
•	Himachal Pradesh	15001
•	Jammu & Kashmir	25528
•	Jharkhand	90996
•	Karnataka	249432
•	Kerala	21757
•	Lakshadweep UT	28
•	Madhya Pradesh	286310
•	Maharashtra	496916
•	Manipur	11805
•	Meghalaya	18839
•	Mizoram	2793
•	Nagaland	11062
•	Odisha	92087
•	Puducherry U.T.	1421
•	Punjab	90353
•	Rajasthan	252338
•	Sikkim	2704
•	Tamil Nadu	151437
•	Tripura	4998
•	Uttar Pradesh	896301
•	Uttarakhand	28098
•	West Bengal	234275
	Total	4353247

** Including Telangana.

Government is implementing the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme since 1988 for rehabilitation of rescued children. State-wise number of children rescued/withdrawn, rehabilitated and mainstreamed under National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme during last three years is -

Sl. No.	State	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
1	Andhra Pradesh#	7840	5715	346
2	Assam	10848	0	60
3	Bihar	1162	3736	14028
4	Chhattisgarh	2004	8034	10173
5	Gujarat	569	453	892
6	Haryana	1722	631	2583
7	Jammu & Kashmir	132	469	0
8	Jharkhand	4003	1028	2989
9	Karnataka	758	2391	2120
10	Madhya Pradesh	7116	8323	7879
11	Maharashtra	4954	5614	2865
12	Odisha	10309	6114	19415
13	Punjab	0	957	290
14	Rajasthan	4155	3585	3132
15	Tamil Nadu	3671	3436	3391
16	Telangana	-	-	2379
17	Uttar Pradesh	10616	7310	10627
18	West Bengal	3117	6254	14228
19	Uttarakhand	-	-	0
20	Nagaland	-	-	436
	Total	72976	64050	97833

# Andhra Pradesh includes Telangana for 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 prohibits the employment of children below 14 years of age in 18 occupations and 65 processes and regulates the working condition of children in employment where they are not prohibited. A Bill to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 has been introduced in Rajya Sabha, which inter-alia provides complete prohibition on employment of children below 14 years in all occupations and processes.

As per the information received from the States, the details of action taken against guilty under Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 during the last three years are as under:

Year	Violations	Prosecutions	Convictions
2012	13437	5424	1416
2013	10920	4808	1243
2014	1660	1452	1097

The Government has adopted multi-pronged strategy to eradicate child labour in the country. Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 prohibits the employment of children below 14 years of age in certain occupations and processes. A Bill to amend the Act, which provides for prohibition of employment of children below 14 years in all occupations and processes and linking the age of prohibition to the age under Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha. For rehabilitation of rescued children, Government is implementing the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme since 1988. Children rescued/withdrawn from work in the age group of 9-14 years are enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid day meal, stipend, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system. Children in the age group of 5-8 years are directly linked to the formal educational system through a close coordination with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). NCLP Scheme is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% central grant to District Project Society headed by the District Magistrate/Collector of the District for operating the Special Training Centres.

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Bonded Labour

Instances of prevalence of forced and bonded labour system are noticed now and then even after its abolition by law with effect from 25^th October, 1975. The reasons are spelt out exhaustively at Section 2(g) of The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. The root of the problem lies in the social customs and economic compulsions and they are yet to change in the desired direction.

Government of India has adopted a three-pronged strategy for abolition of bonded labour system: (i) The Constitution of India vide Art.23 prohibits forced labour; (ii) Central Government enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976; The Act empowers Executive Magistrates to exercise powers of Judicial Magistrate of first or second class for trial of offences; Vigilance Committees at District and Sub-divisional levels have been prescribed to identify and rehabilitate bonded labourers and (iii) a Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour is under implementation since 1978 by which Central Government contributes Rs. 10,000/- for each case of rehabilitation.

Actions against the employers of bonded labour under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 are to be taken by the State Governments. Under the Act, the District Magistrate has been conferred with the powers of Judicial Magistrate first class for convicting the perpetrators of bonded labour system. The Act provides for punishment of imprisonment for a term upto three years and fine upto Rs. two thousand for extracting bonded labour under the bonded labour system. Central Government does not maintain records on the number of cases and action taken against the guilty. This is not mandated under the Act.

The State/ UT- wise number of bonded labourers identified, released and rehabilitated and Central assistance released to the States under the Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme up to 31.03.2015.

Name of the State	Number of Bonded Labourers
Name of the State	Identified and Released	Rehabilitated	Central assistance provided (Rs. in lakhs)
Andhra Pradesh	38,141	31,687	865.30
Arunachal Pradesh	3,526	2992	568.48
Bihar	15,395	14,577	548.98
Chhattisgarh	2215	2215	221.5
Gujarat	64	64	1.01
Haryana	594	92	5.23
Jharkhand	196	196	19.60
Karnataka	64,600	58,348	1694.48
Kerala	823	710	15.56
Madhya Pradesh	13,317	12,392	169.90
Maharashtra	1,404	1,325	10.10
Odisha	50,441	47,313	944.53
Punjab	252	252	25.20
Rajasthan	7713	6556	94.92
Tamil Nadu	65,573	65,573	1661.94
Uttar Pradesh	355,72	355,72	1308.13
Uttaranchal	5	5	0.50
West Bengal	344	344	27.26
TOTAL	3,00,175*	2,80,213	8182.62

NOTE

* 19962 Bonded Labourers are not available for rehabilitation; they are either dead or untraceable as per report.

* An amount of Rs. 8182.62 lakhs as matching rehabilitation grant has also been provided by the State Governments for rehabilitation of bonded labour.

* In the case of North Eastern regions, 100% Central grants (without matching States share) are provided for rehabilitation of bonded labour. However, only Arunachal Pradesh has availed the 100% Central assistance amounting to Rs. 568. 48 lakhs.

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Manpower in Organized Sector/ Unorganized Sector

As per the census of Central Government employees conducted by Directorate of Employment, Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Railways had 13.28 lakh regular employees during 2011, which was the largest share (43.02%) of employees in the country followed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (25.95%), Defence Civilian (12.16%), Communication & IT (7.01%) and Finance (3.37%).

According to ILO’s estimates in the Key Indicators of the Labour Market, India has the second largest workforce in the world after China and the estimated employment aged 15 and above during 2013 is given below:

Country	Employment ( in crore persons)
China	77.26
India	46.35

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Welfare of Labourers

There are various legislations to protect the interest of labourers. The salaries/wages of employees covered under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 in the companies are protected by the provisions of these Acts. Equal Remuneration Act, 1973 provides for payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers for the same work or work of similar nature without any discrimination. The Factories Act, 1948 and The Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2006 also has provisions for safety of workers in the factories.

In order to ensure social security to the workers in the unorganised sector, the Government has enacted the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008.

The second National Commission on Labour had recommended that the existing Labour Laws should be broadly grouped into four or five Labour Codes on functional basis. Accordingly, the Ministry has taken steps for drafting four Labour Codes on Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security & Welfare: Safety & Working Conditions respectively, by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the Central Labour Laws.

Government through the Budget Speech, 2015 announced three Social Security Schemes pertaining to the Insurance and Pension Sectors, namely Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to move towards creating a universal social security system, focused especially at the poor and the under-privileged. The schemes provide essential and affordable social protection to all citizens in a convenient manner linked to auto-debit facility from bank accounts. These schemes are expected to address the issue of low coverage of life and accident insurance and old age income security in the country.

The percentage of Group A, B, C and D of the regular Central Government Employees as per Census of Central Government Employees (as on 31st March, 2011) brought out by Ministry of Labour & Employment is -