A senior government official told ET that the labour ministry is contemplating using funds collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, 1996 for this. The proposal came after enrolments under the scheme slowed down consi...
New Delhi: The labour ministry may allow the use of funds lying with the government for paying the worker contribution under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Scheme, in a major revamp of the voluntary pension programme for unorganised workers.
A senior government official told ET that the labour ministry is contemplating using funds collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, 1996 for this. The proposal came after enrolments under the scheme slowed down considerably since the outbreak of the pandemic, as unorganised workers stayed away from contributing to the scheme.
If finalised, it would enable unorganised workers willing to enrol under the scheme to get pension benefits with very little or no contribution by them. The Centre will continue to pitch in its share.
The central labour ministry will discuss this at the National Labour Conference with state labour ministers in the last week of August, the official said. The BOCW cess is jointly managed by the central and state governments, with states involved in the expenditure.
"We are hopeful of bringing all states on board on the issue and accordingly revise the scheme to enable more and more unorganised workers to get its benefits," the official said, adding that the move was in line with the government's vision to provide social security to all workers.
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Currently, funds totalling more than ₹43,000 crore are lying unutilised under the BOCW cess scheme. Of the ₹78,521.24 crore collected, only ₹35,399.4 crore had been spent by states.
