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The government planned to introduce a comprehensive social security scheme, proposing to merge long-standing schemes such as Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) into a new scheme. However, certain groups have voiced their objections to the new social security scheme.
The first sign of objection came on 1 June, when Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an RSS affiliate, in a statement said that BJP President Amit Shah had assured them that the government would not tamper with the ESI and EPF schemes under any circumstance when it introduces the new labour code on social security. The draft code also suggested that assets and funds under the 16 current social welfare schemes be distributed among the Social Security Funds (SSFs) to be set up in all the states of India. Once employers start contributing to SSFs, they will stop depositing funds to the EPF, EPS and ESIC.
As part of the new social security code, the government wants to include workers of almost all sectors under a long-lasting, well-defined and extensive social security net. BMS President Saji Narayanan told Amit Shah that removing ESI and EPF schemes would result in “cross-subsidisation”. Narayanan expressed concerns that the entire funds would be exhausted for the sake of unorganised workers who may not be paying to the funds. However, the BMS president said that his group has no objection to bringing unorganised workers under social security.
Narayanan added that Amit Shah assured that the government would make any changes in the labour reforms only after thorough discussions with the trade unions. The government would strive to strengthen tripartite mechanism to settle labour matters. It would form a ministerial group for this purpose.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
