Sivasubramanian Ramann, chairman-designate, PFRDA Ramann belongs to...
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Wipro awarded £500m deal from UK insurance giant Phoenix Group
As per the deal, Wipro’s existing FCA-regulated entity Wipro...
No proposal to change retirement age of govt employees: Centre
"No proposal to change the retirement age of government employees...
COVID-fuelled child labour crisis spurs call for global social protection fund
The pandemic has pushed many countries – from the United States to Rwanda – to spend trillions of dollars on short-term measures, including payments to businesses and poor families, to cushion their populations from economic shocks. A fraction of this cash could be used to start a fund offering basic income like cash transfers to the poor, pensions for the elderly and disability, unemployment and child benefits, campaigners said at an online event.”Social protection is absolutely fundamental,” said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation. “If we have a fund to build those social protection systems for the 55% of the world’s people who have no social protection, and for the 72% who have little or no social protection, then it returns money and jobs to the economy,” she said.
EPFO adds 14.65 lakh members in July, up 31 pc over June
The ministry said of the total 14.65 lakh net subscribers, around 9.02 lakh new members have come under the social security umbrella of EPFO for the first time. Around 5.63 lakh net subscribers exited but rejoined EPFO by changing jobs within the establishments covered by the retirement fund body.
One crore registered on e-Sharm portal, says Teli, urges unions to spread awareness
This portal will cater to all unorganised sector workers, including construction workers, migrant workers, gig and platform workers, street vendors, domestic workers, agriculture workers, milkmen, fishermen, truck drivers etc.
”Each registered worker will be given an e-SHRAM card with unique Universal Account Number (UAN) which will allow him/her to access the benefits of the various social security schemes through this Card across the country and will aid the delivery of the social security schemes,” Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameshwar Teli stated.
PFRDA pension subscriber base rises 24% to 4.53 crore till August
The PFRDA administers two pension schemes — National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY).
“The number of subscribers in various schemes under the National Pension System (NPS) rose to 453.41 lakh by end-August 2021 from 365.47 lakh in August 2020 showing a year-on-year increase of 24.06 per cent,” the PFRDA said in a release.
Cabinet may take up amendments to PFRDA Act soon; Bill in Winter session
The amendment Bill may contain provisions on separation of NPS Trust from PFRDA, hike in foreign direct investment (FDI) limit for the pension sector to 74 per cent from the existing 49 per cent, among others, sources said.
China launches wealth management product pilots for retirement in four cities
Last month, China set up a state pension company with registered capital of 11.2 billion yuan, with 17 bank-affiliated wealth management units, insurers and state institutions taking stake, to help boost funds for retirees.
Despite looming changes, China’s retirement age is 60 for men and 55 for women, civil servants and white-collar workers.
UK’s Sunak wants insurers to explore products for social care costs
Social care refers to long-term health care outside hospitals.Sunak has asked officials to work with insurers to consider “new products” that can help with social care costs, the treasury source said.
“We’re hopeful that in time the cap on costs will provide the clarity insurers need to create new products,” the source said.
Atal Pension Yojna most popular social security scheme under NPS system
Out of 4.2 crore National Pension System (NPS) subscribers, over 66 per cent or 2.8 crore opted for the APY at the end of 2020-21, says the annual report of the National Pension Systems Trust (NPS Trust).The State Government Scheme ranks second with 11 per cent share, while the central autonomous bodies (CAB) continued to account for the least number of subscribers of NPS with a share of 1 per cent, followed by state autonomous bodies (SAB) with a share of 2 per cent.
“APY is the most subscribed plan among non-metro subscribers. This also reflects the demographic pattern in the country, where more unorganized population segments reside in the non metros, thus accessing the NPS self-initiated plan,” the report said.
Atal Pension Yojana subscriber count cross 33 mn-mark, says PFRDA
A guaranteed pension scheme of the government, APY ensures Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month pension, depending upon the contribution made, to a subscriber from the retirement age of 60 years.
Public sector banks accounted for the highest number of APY subscribers at over 2.33 crore, as per PFRDA data.
More than 4 billion people still lack any social protection, ILO report
Social protection includes access to health care and income security, particularly in relation to old age, unemployment, sickness, disability, work injury, maternity or loss of a main income earner, as well as for families with children.
There are significant regional inequalities in social protection. Europe and Central Asia have the highest rates of coverage, with 84 per cent of people being covered by at least one benefit.
The Americas are also above the global average, with 64.3 per cent. Asia and the Pacific (44 per cent), the Arab States (40 per cent) and Africa (17.4 per cent) have marked coverage gaps.
Government spending on social protection also varies significantly. On average, countries spend 12.8 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on social protection (excluding health), however high-income countries spend 16.4 per cent and low-income countries only 1.1 per cent of their GDP on social protection.