EPFO has added 6.43 crore new members in nearly 6 years

Meanwhile, more than 8 crore new subscribers joined the Employees’ State Insurance or ESI scheme

More than 6.43 crore new members joined the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme during the September 2017-March 2023 period, data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation National Statistical Office on May 25 shows.

Managed by the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), EPF is a mandatory savings scheme and covers every establishment that employs 20 or more persons. The number of members subscribing to the scheme gives an idea of the level of employment in the formal sector.

As per data, the financial years 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2022-23 accounted for the largest additions, with 1.39 crore subscribers joining the scheme in each of these years.

More than eight crore new subscribers joined the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) scheme, a social security programme that provides socio-economic protection to the workers in the organised sector and their dependents in emergencies.

The government’s National Pension Scheme (NPS) registered over 42 lakh new members who contributed to the NPS Central Government, State Governments and Corporate schemes during September 2017 and March 2023, the data shows.

The government, however, clarified that he number of subscribers was from various sources and there were overlaps. The estimates from various sources were not additive.

Since April 2018, MoSPI has been bringing out employment-related statistics in the formal sector covering the period from September 2017 onwards, using the information from the number of subscribers of three major employee welfare schemes — the EPF, ESI and NPS.