In Punjab, the Employees Provident Fund Office (EPFO) has started raising awareness amongst industries and corporates about three schemes of the Prime Minister’s Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) which are focused on recognition of first-time employees and support to employees and employers.

These schemes are part of the Prime Minister’s package and were announced by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget 2024-25. These will be based on enrollment in the EPFO.

Regional Commissioner of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization in Jalandhar, Pankaj Kumar told Akashvani that to support this, EPFO has launched a campaign to promote UAN (Universal Account Number) activation and bank account KYC seeding, which is the first requirement for the said three schemes.

The first scheme is meant for the First Timer employees. It will provide a one-month wage to all persons newly entering the workforce in all formal sectors. The second scheme is for Job Creation in the Manufacturing Sector. It will incentivize additional employment in the manufacturing sector. Whereas, the third part of the scheme will provide support to employers. This will cover additional employment in all sectors and the Government will reimburse employers up to 3,000 rupees per month for 2 years towards their EPFO contribution for each additional employee.

The Union Minister of Labour & Employment, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya during a meeting in August had directed for expeditious implementation of the Employment-Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme in a mission mode. The scheme aims to create over 2 crore jobs in the country in 2 years.