Key Takeaways
- • A parliamentary panel chaired by BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai has directed the labour ministry to complete the first-ever third-party evaluation of the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS-95) by the end of 2025.
- • The EPS-95 minimum monthly pension has been fixed at Rs 1,000 for contributors with at least 10 years of service, despite rising inflation and living costs.
- • The Standing Committee on Labour cited the increase in the cost of living in 2024 versus 2014 and said there is a need to "seriously consider an upward revision" of the minimum pension.
- • A 2020 proposal to raise the pension to Rs 2,000 was sent to the Finance Ministry but was not approved, and no commitment on a revision has been formalised.
Summary
A parliamentary panel has directed the labour ministry to complete a third-party evaluation of the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS-95) by the end of 2025, according to Times Now. The review follows years of demands from trade unions and pensioners' associations for a revision of the Rs 1,000 monthly minimum pension. The EPS, launched in 1995 and managed by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), provides lifelong pensions to employees after retirement.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, chaired by BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai, asked the ministry to ensure the external evaluation concludes within a "definite timeframe, preferably by the end of 2025." The review is expected to assess the sustainability, adequacy and financial implications of the scheme in its current form. In its report, the panel stated: "Considering the manifold increase in the cost of living in 2024 vis-à-vis 2014 and other relevant factors, there is a need to seriously consider an upward revision of this amount." The labour ministry told the committee that the evaluation has already begun through a Request for Proposal (RFP). The article notes this would be the first formal review in the EPS's 30-year history.
The report also confirmed that a proposal to raise the pension to Rs 2,000 was sent to the Finance Ministry in 2020 but was not approved, and was later included in discussions for the 2024–25 Budget. In a pre-Budget meeting this year, a delegation from the EPS-95 National Agitation Committee urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to raise the minimum pension. Although no commitment has been formalised, the committee said the labour ministry must treat the matter "with a sense of urgency."
Trade unions, which have argued that the existing pension is insufficient amid rising inflation, welcomed the committee's intervention. The EPS-95 covers millions of pensioners, and according to the article, a revision would represent the most meaningful change to the pension system for government and private sector employees in over a decade if accepted.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, chaired by BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai, asked the ministry to ensure the external evaluation concludes within a "definite timeframe, preferably by the end of 2025." The review is expected to assess the sustainability, adequacy and financial implications of the scheme in its current form. In its report, the panel stated: "Considering the manifold increase in the cost of living in 2024 vis-à-vis 2014 and other relevant factors, there is a need to seriously consider an upward revision of this amount." The labour ministry told the committee that the evaluation has already begun through a Request for Proposal (RFP). The article notes this would be the first formal review in the EPS's 30-year history.
The report also confirmed that a proposal to raise the pension to Rs 2,000 was sent to the Finance Ministry in 2020 but was not approved, and was later included in discussions for the 2024–25 Budget. In a pre-Budget meeting this year, a delegation from the EPS-95 National Agitation Committee urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to raise the minimum pension. Although no commitment has been formalised, the committee said the labour ministry must treat the matter "with a sense of urgency."
Trade unions, which have argued that the existing pension is insufficient amid rising inflation, welcomed the committee's intervention. The EPS-95 covers millions of pensioners, and according to the article, a revision would represent the most meaningful change to the pension system for government and private sector employees in over a decade if accepted.
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