NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday introduced in the Lok Sabha the Social Security Code Bill, 2019 that envisages to cover 50 crore workers under the ambit of social security fund and keep employer’s contribution to provident fund intact. The Bill seeks to universalise social security benefits, besides tapping into the Corporate Social Responsibility corpus. Introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Labour Santosh Gangwar said that fixed term employees will become eligible for gratuity benefits after one year in place of the existing five years.
The Bill proposes that the employees will get more take home salary, with reduction in their contributions for the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF). It also proposes to extend social security benefits to workers in the unorganised sector with coverage for medical, pension, disability benefits through Employees State Insurance Corporation.
The Bill proposes that the government will come up with schemes to cover workers in the unorganised sector for extending social security benefits. It proposes to merge eight existing labour laws.The Bill, which was approved by the Modi Cabinet last week, aims to cover a total of 50 crore workers.
With offering the option to the workers to reduce their contributions to the EPF, the Bill aims to allow employees to take home additional income, which could help them meet their expenses. The Bill has also done away with giving the option to the workers to opt for the National Pension Scheme and allows them to stay with the EPFO with the existing benefits. The Lok Sabha is likely to take up discussions on the Bill on Thursday.