Lok Sabha Question No. 143 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-04
Subject: Female Employees under EPFO
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Krishna Pal Singh Yadav, Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Shrikant Eknath Shinde

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 143

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.12.2023

## FEMALE EMPLOYEES UNDER EPFO

143.  DR. KRISHNA PAL SINGH YADAV:

PROF. RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

DR. SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL:

Will  the  Minister  of  LABOUR  AND  EMPLOYMENT  be  pleased  to state:

- (a)whether  formal  job  creation  for  women  in  India  has  increased
- significantly during the last five years, if so, the details thereof;
- (b)the  details  of  specific  measures  and  policies  implemented  by  the Ministry  to  encourage  greater  gender  parity  and  inclusivity  in  the labour force;
- (c)whether the Government would provide insights into the impact of the e-Shram  portal,  dedicated  to  unorganized  workers,  on women's participation;
- (d)the efforts being made to enhance registration and social security coverage for women in the unorganized sector; and
- (e)whether the net addition in EPFO subscriptions serve as an indicator of the formalization of the job market for women and the expansion of  social  security  benefits  for  the  organized  and  semi-organized sector workforce, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a): The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) publishes Payroll data every month whereby the number of subscribers joining  Employees'  Provident  Fund  (EPF)  for  the  first  time  through Aadhaar validated Universal Account Number (UAN), existing subscribers  exiting  and  subscribers  who  exited  earlier  rejoin  as subscribers is reported to arrive at net Payroll. The published figures provide the net new enrollments in EPFO across the country in age-slab wise, industry wise, state-wise and gender wise. The details of EPFO Net Payroll Additions of Female Subscribers since September, 2017 are as under :-

| Financial Year                 | Net Payroll Additions Subscribers)   |
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 2017-18 (from September, 2017) | 2,32,785                             |
| 2018-19                        | 13,05,172                            |
| 2019-20                        | 15,93,614                            |
| 2020-21                        | 13,98,080                            |
| 2021-22                        | 26,18,728                            |
| 2022-23                        | 28,69,688                            |

Note: The Net Payroll Data published by EPFO is provisional as updation of  employees'  records  is  a  continuous  process  and  gets  updated  in subsequent month(s).

(b): The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 provides for payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers for same work or work of similar nature without any discrimination. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 has been subsumed in the Code on Wages, 2019 which also provides that there shall be no discrimination in an establishment or any unit  thereof  among  employees  on  the  ground  of  gender  in  matters relating to wages by the same employer, in respect of the same work or work of similar nature done by any employee. However, the Code on Wages, 2019 is yet to come into force.

Under  the  Maternity  Benefit  (Amendment)  Act,  2017,  the following provisions/benefits are available:-

- Paid Maternity leave/benefit has been increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
- Facility of crèche is mandatory if 50 or more employees are working in the establishment.
- Medical  Bonus  of  Rs.3500/-  if  no  pre-natal  confinement  and  postnatal care is provided by the employer free of charge.
- Enabling provision for light work  for specified period during pregnancy.
- Immunity from dismissal during absence due to pregnancy and no deduction of wages of woman entitled to maternity benefit.
- Enabling provision for facility of work from home, if the employer and employee so agrees, in addition to the maternity leave.

The  Maternity  Benefit  Act,  1961  has  been  subsumed  in  the Code on Social Security, 2020, which is yet to come into force.

Contd..3/-

The Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions (OSH), 2020 has special provision relating to employment of women.  As  per  this,  women  shall  be  entitled  to  be  employed  in  all establishments for all types of work, with their consent, before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. subject to conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours or any other conditions to be observed by the employer as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  appropriate  Government.  However,  the Code on OSH, 2020 is yet to come into force.

Further, to enhance the employability of female workers, the Government is providing training to them through a network of Women Industrial  Training  Institutes,  National  Vocational  Training  Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes.

- (c) & (d): Ministry  of  Labour  &  Employment  launched  eShram  portal (eshram.gov.in) on 26th August, 2021 for creation of a comprehensive National  Database  of  Unorganised  Workers  seeded  with  Aadhaar. eShram portal is meant to register and support the unorganised workers by providing them a Universal Account Number (UAN). eShram captures details  of  workers  such  as  name,  address,  occupation,  educational qualification, skill type etc. As on 27 th  November, 2023, over 29.19 crore unorganised workers have registered on eShram portal under 30 broad occupation sectors and around 400 occupations. Out of total registration on eShram, approximately 15.45 crore registrants i.e. 52.92% are female.
- (e): The Employee s' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 is applicable on the factories and establishments employing  20  or  more  persons  engaged  in  any  of  the  197  class  of establishments/schedule of industries and employees with monthly EPF wages up to Rs.15,000/- only are statutorily required to be enrolled as members. The monthly net payroll data of EPFO indicates the pattern and  trends  in  employment  and  job  creations  in  the  organized/formal sectors of economy.

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