LABOR CORRESPONDANT

Cabinet approves new closure norms for sick PSUs

Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved revised guidelines for the time-bound closure of sick and loss-making central public sector enterprises (CPSE) and disposal of their movable and immovable assets.

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved revised guidelines for the time-bound closure of sick and loss-making central public sector enterprises (CPSE) and disposal of their movable and immovable assets.

The move, which is seen as step forward in the government’s efforts to quickly divest its loss-making units, was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the government statement, the new norms accord first priority for utilisation of available land parcels of CPSEs under closure for affordable housing projects, which will also give a fillip to the housing initiatives for the centre.

The government has also laid down a uniform policy to offer workers voluntary retirement schemes at the 2007 notional pay scale irrespective of the pay scale in which they are working.

Set aside divestment proceeds for sick PSUs’ revival: panel

The government had set a divestment target.   | Photo Credit: Kamal Narang

‘Govt. must consider job creation potential, among others, while shedding stake’

A Parliamentary panel has recommended the earmarking of a defined portion of proceeds from the divestment of State-owned enterprises for funding revival, restructuring and modernisation proposals of sick public sector undertakings (PSUs) that have the potential to turn around.

“In this manner, the government can extend a hand-holding support to the select sick PSUs that have the potential to turn around and sustain themselves in [the] future,” the panel said in a report.

Divestment target

The government had set a target of raising ₹80,000 crore in 2018-19 by selling stakes in the State-owned firms, with strategic divestment of 24 CPSEs (central public sector undertakings) on the cards and privatisation of Air India on track.

Besides, NITI Aayog is preparing another list of sick PSUs that can be privatised, its chief executive officer Amitabh Kant said last month. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had asked the think-tank to look into the viability of sick State-run companies.

The Aayog had already recommended strategic divestment of 40 sick public sector undertakings.

In its report, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry said it was of the firm opinion that while making a decision to disinvest PSUs, especially those that are profit-making, the government must accord due consideration to the jobs supported by them, the track record of their contribution to the national economy, their capex (capital expenditure) creation potential and also their role in balancing the social/regional fabric.

The committee observed that timely approval of revival/restructuring/modernisation plans of CPSEs with accurate cost estimates, availability of funds with the government and the timely disposal of such funds are crucial factors.

The National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog, was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, providing both directional and policy inputs. While designing strategic and long term policies and programmes for the Government of India, NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre and States.

The Government of India, in keeping with its reform agenda, constituted the NITI Aayog to replace the Planning Commission instituted in 1950. This was done in order to better serve the needs and aspirations of the people of India. An important evolutionary change from the past, NITI Aayog acts as the quintessential platform of the Government of India to bring States to act together in national interest, and thereby fosters Cooperative Federalism.

At the core of NITI Aayog’s creation are two hubs – Team India Hub and the Knowledge and Innovation Hub. The Team India Hub leads the engagement of states with the Central government, while the Knowledge and Innovation Hub builds NITI’s think-tank capabilities. These hubs reflect the two key tasks of the Aayog.

NITI Aayog is also developing itself as a State of the Art Resource Centre, with the necessary resources, knowledge and skills, that will enable it to act with speed, promote research and innovation, provide strategic policy vision for the government, and deal with contingent issues.

PRESENT Constitution of NITI Aayog :as on 08-June-2018

Chairperson	Shri Narendra Modi(link is external)
Vice Chairperson	Dr. Rajiv Kumar
Full-Time Member	Prof. Ramesh Chand
Full-Time Member	Profile - Shri V.K. Saraswat
Full-Time Member	Profile - Shri Bibek Debroy
Full-Time Member	Profile - Dr. V.K. Paul
Chief Executive Officer	Shri Amitabh Kant

  

 Disinvestment:   courtesy

Disinvestment and the salient features of the current disinvestment policy...

 

 An important part of the economic reforms launched in the early 1990s was the reform package introduced for the public sector. Many of the defective working features of the PSEs (Public Sector Enterprises) were set to be corrected through reforms. Strategic sale of PSEs, giving more freedom to the management of PSEs, and disinvestment etc. were the main reform measures.

But of all these, disinvestment was the widely adopted instrument of the PSE package. Disinvestment was undertaken for PSEs aiming at mobilizing money and inducting private corporate oriented business practices in their administration. Disinvestment targets were set under each budget.

What is disinvestment?

Literally, disinvestment means selling of assets. Here, in the case of PUSs, disinvestment means Government selling/ diluting its stake (share) in Public Sector Undertakings in which it has a majority holding. Disinvestment is carried out as a budgetary exercise, under which the government announces yearly targets for disinvestment for selected PSUs.

What are the Salient features of Current Disinvestment Policy?

The policy of disinvestment has evolved since the early 1990s and now (bduget 2016), the government has brought some changes including bringing back strategic disinvestment (previously strategic sale). Budget 2016 has brought several notable changes including renaming of Department of Disinvestment as Department of investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). As per the latest policy, disinvestment now covers two types: (1) disinvestment through minority stake sale and (2) strategic disinvestment. Following are the main features of the current disinvestment policy.

(a) Public Sector Undertakings are the wealth of the Nation and to ensure this wealth rests in the hands of the people, promote public ownership of CPSEs;

(b) In the case of disinvestment through minority stake (share) sale in listed CPSEs, the Government will retain majority shareholding, i.e. at least 51 per cent of the shareholding and management control of the Public Sector Undertakings;

(c) Strategic disinvestment by way of sale of substantial portion of Government shareholding in identified CPSEs up to 50 per cent or more, along with transfer of management control.

The government also separately mentioned disinvestment targets under the two types: disinvestment target for the current financial year is Rs. 56,500 crore comprising Rs. 36,000 crores from disinvestment of CPSEs and Rs. 20,500 crores from “Strategic Disinvestment”.

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1.Find right papers to avail EPF of deceased kin without hurdles

Managing family finances immediately after the untimely demise of a close relative is usually daunting.

Managing family finances immediately after the untimely demise of a close relative is usually daunting. After a person’s demise, the nominees of the employee will get access to his or her employee provident fund (EPF) balance. However, finding the right documents to claim the fund and filling out the right forms for EPF withdrawal is a tedious process. Disclosure of necessary details would help mitigate holding up or delays in such withdrawals.

When a primary nominee wants to have access to the employee provident fund of their dead relative, the EPF Composite form is an important document. The form is necessary to claim EPF, pension and insurance money. Apart from this document, the death certificate of the employee and the birth certificates of each of the children are essential.

Another mandate laid out by the EPFO is to produce a joint photograph of the claimants of the funds, in order to prevent any frauds or manipulation in the names of the beneficiaries. The nominees must also attach the copy of a cancelled cheque leaf or an attested copy of the first page of the bank pass book with details of the account where the money is going into.

The final, yet most important, document that one has to produce is the EPS Scheme certificate for applicable candidates who can claim family pension. The EPS Scheme certificate is a document that has details such as the names of the persons who will have access to the pension after the death of a family member issued by the EPFO.

In this context, if a person is a primary breadwinner of the family, prioritising on clearing the clutter and maintaining a safe, single, virtual document that contains details about their EPF, insurance, investments and any pension money that is accessible to all the beneficiaries would be the first thing to do to ensure that he/she leaves behind a clear legacy.

Important documents:
1.EPF Composite form is needed to claim EPF, pension & insurance money
2.Death certificate of the deceased and birth certificate of each child
A joint photograph of the claimants of the fund
3.EPS Scheme certificate for applicable candidates who can claim family pension.

PROVIDENT FUND

The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) is a savings tool for the workforce. It is a scheme managed under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952,

by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). 

Under the EPF scheme, an employee has to pay a certain percentage from his pay and an equal amount is contributed by the employer.

The employee gets a lump sum amount (which includes his own and employer's contributions) with interest upon retirement or two months after switching jobs. 

Currently (2017­18), the EPF interest rate stands at 8.55 per cent. In terms of returns from a debt instrument, EPF fares better. 

The money is sovereign-­backed and the interest earned is tax­-free. In fact, it enjoys the exempt­-exempt-­exempt (EEE) status as contributions are deductible from income. 

Govt to contribute to EPF only for new employees registered till Mar 31, 2019 Government of lndia will pay the full employer's contribution (EPF and EPS both) w.e.f. 01.04.2018 for a period of three years to the new employees and existing beneficiaries for their remaining period of three years through EPFO. 

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)

Cabinet approves enhancing the coverage of Pradhan MantriRojgarProtsahanYojana

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for enhancing the scope of Pradhan MantriRojgarProtsahanYojana (PMRPY). The Government of India will now contribute the Employer's full admissible contribution for the first three years from the date of registration of the new employee for all the sectors including existing beneficiaries for their remaining period of three years.

Benefits:

          The informal sector workers would get social safety net and there would be more job creation.

Till now, the scheme has produced quite encouraging results and have added about 31 Lakhs beneficiaries to the formal employment involving an expenditure of more than Rs. 500 crore.

Background:

PMRPY has been in operation since August, 2016. In this scheme, Government is paying the 8.33% contribution of Employers to the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) in respect of new employees (who have joined on or after 1st April 2016) having a new Universal Account Number (UAN), with salary up to Rs. 15,000/- per month. The scheme has a dual benefit i.e. on the one hand the employers are incentivized for increasing the employment base of workers in the establishments, and on the other hand a large number of workers will find jobs in such establishments. A direct benefit is that these workers will have access to social security benefits of the organized sector.

EPFO

 Vision

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has a vision to reposition itself as a world class Social Security Organisation providing futuristic services meeting the growing requirements of all categories of its stakeholders. EPFO Vision 2030 envisages:

• Universal Social Security Coverage on mandatory basis by way of Provident Fund, Pension and Life Insurance for all workers of the country
• Online Services for all EPFO benefits with State-of-the-Art Technology
• Implementation of policies for a benefit structure with adequate support level of social security

   Mission

Our mission is to extend the reach and quality of publicly managed old age income security programs through consistent and ever-improving standards of compliance and benefit delivery in a manner that wins the approval and confidence of members in our methods, fairness, honesty and integrity, thereby contributing to the economic and social well-being of the nation.
The technology-driven and hassle-free services are envisaged to improve the level of trust on the functioning of EPFO include:

• Provide minimum interface but maximum output from the EPFO offices
• Improved and reliable facility for on line services
• Real time monthly updation of member accounts
• Online access to member account
• Ensure one Employee one EPF account
• Reduce the time for settlement of claims from the present 20 days to 3 days
• Facilitate the ease of compliance
• Encourage and promote voluntary compliance
• Keep up the vigil and ensure proper compliance by all establishments
• Further improvise easy interaction with EPFO to obtain information or seek redressal

• EPFO is one of the World's largest Social Security Organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions undertaken. At present it maintains more than 15 crore accounts pertaining to its members.
• The Employees' Provident Fund came into existence with the promulgation of the Employees' Provident Funds Ordinance on the 15th November, 1951. It was replaced by the Employees' Provident Funds Act, 1952. The Employees' Provident Funds Bill was introduced in the Parliament as Bill Number 15 of the year 1952 as a Bill to provide for the institution of provident funds for employees in factories and other establishments. The Act is now referred as the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 which extends to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. The Act and Schemes framed there under are administered by a tri-partite Board known as the Central Board of Trustees, Employees' Provident Fund, consisting of representatives of Government (Both Central and State), Employers, and Employees.
• The Central Board of Trustees administers a contributory provident fund, pension scheme and an insurance scheme for the workforce engaged in the organized sector in India. The Board is assisted by the Employees’ PF Organization (EPFO), consisting of offices at 122 locations across the country. The Organization has a well equipped training set up where officers and employees of the Organization as well as Representatives of the Employers and Employees attend sessions for trainings and seminars.The EPFO is under the administrative control of Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India 
• The Board operates three schemes - EPF Scheme 1952, Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS) and Insurance Scheme 1976 (EDLI).

 EPFO Schemes

• EPF Scheme 1952
  • Accumulation plus interest upon retirement and death
  • Partial withdrawals allowed for education, marriage, illness and house construction
  • Housing Scheme for EPFO Members to achieve Hon'ble Prime Minister's Vision of housing to all Indians by 2022

• Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS)
  • Monthly benefit for superannuation/retirement, disability, survivor, widow(er) and children
  • Minimum pension on disablement
  • Past service benefit to participants of erstwhile Family Pension Scheme, 1971

• Insurance Scheme 1976 (EDLI)
• Benefit provided in case of death of an employee who was a member of the scheme at the time of death
• Benefit amount 20 times of the wages. Maximum benefit of 6 lakh