Why Union Labour Minister Applauds EPFO and ESIC on International Women’s Day; Check Details

On International Women’s Day, which fell during the iconic week of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, two key components of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, EPFO and ESIC, in collaboration with DGMS, implemented a series of women-friendly measures, including steps to process all women’s claims and a first-of-its-kind “Women’s Empowerment Desks” to cater to women stakeholders for one-stop service delivery.

Yesterday, Shri Bhupendra Yadav, Minister for Labor & Employment, Shri Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Labor & Employment, Shri Sunil Barthwal, Secretary, Ministry of Labor & Employment, Smt. Neelam Shami Rao, Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Shri M.S Bhatia, DG ESIC, and others attended a function jointly organized by EPFO, ESIC, and DGMS on the theme “value and empower the women

In his remarks, Shri Bhupendra Yadav praised the unique initiatives taken by EPFO and ESIC, two essential members of the Labor Ministry who represent the government’s citizen-centric faces. “While EPFO represents Trust, ESIC complements through Services,” he stated. He went on to say how much he appreciated the one-of-a-kind services planned to commemorate Women’s Day, such as the settling of all women’s claims in EPFO and ESIC. He added that the Government of India is committed to guaranteeing not only equality at work and the freedom to select a job, but also the freedom to choose the correct job and the equal freedom to secure health. In his speech, Sunil Bharthwal, the Labor Secretary, stated that the government’s overall goal is to ensure that women’s participation in the workplace is proportional to their population.

EPFO has set a goal of 75 lakh e-nominations as part of Azadi ka Amrit Utsav, and it has launched a campaign to encourage women workers to file their e nominations on Women’s Day. EPFO exceeded its target by a factor of 92 lakhs. Women were chosen as nominees by 70 lakhs of these people, empowering spouses, daughters, and mothers.

The EPFO field offices used the special week-long effort to try to speed up the e-nominations of women members by partnering with the businesses and proactively reaching out to them through special camps. In response to the appeal, 10415 businesses indicated that their female employees had all been e-nominated. Women members submitted a total of 7 lakh e-nominations from just the top 100 establishments in the country.

The EPFO RO Coimbatore received and processed the most claims, while the Chennai Zone received and processed the least. Telangana Zone received 44 percent of the 7 lakh e-nominations. EPFO Nizamabad, a Telangana Zone constituent office that predominantly serves Beedi enterprises, accounting for 39% of all such e-nominations filed. These offices were honored with a special award.

It also targeted the processing of all women’s claims as of March 5, 2022, in another campaign. In a week-long exercise, this campaign ended in March, resolving 144069 women’s claims for a total of Rs 638 crores. EPFO ran a test of paying all claims of its female subscribers in one of its Delhi offices last year in 2021. EPFO has now reproduced this throughout all offices in India as a symbolically celebratory display of prioritized services for Women’s Day 2022.

EPFO Noida won the prize for being influential in topping the total of nominations filed in each of the three categories of small, medium, and large establishments. The small category defined establishment subscriber strength as 100-200, the medium category as 201-200, and the big category as 500 or more. Manpower Group Services Pvt. Ltd. of Delhi and M/s Uflex Pvt. Ltd. of Noida, which were among the top 75 establishments in the country to file the most e-nominations, got awards on behalf of all 75 establishments. A specific commendation is given to each of the 75 leading establishments.

As the first Women Empowerment Desk to cater to all women stakeholder engagements with EPFO today, the Minister virtually established “Women’s Empowerment Desks” in Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai.

The Minister also presented commendation awards to three ESIC women Corona Warriors: Dr. Jayashree Shiv Kumar Bhale of Andhra Pradesh, Mrs. Uma Gopinath of KK Nagar Medical Officer, and Mrs. Meenakshi of ESIC Paramedical Staff. He also honored Aruna Narayan Sankatala and Bipasha Biswas of opencast mines, as well as Sandhya Rasakatla and Yogeshwari Rane of underground mines, as the first women mine workers in India.