The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has added 13.96 lakh members in February 2023, provisional payroll data available with the pension body show.
Out of the 13.96 lakh members added during the month, around 7.38 lakh new members have come under the ambit of the EPFO for the first time. Among the newly joined members, the highest enrolment is registered in the age-group of 18-21 years, with 2.17 lakh members, followed by the age-group of 22-25 years with 1.91 lakh members. The age-group of 18-25 years constitutes 55.37% of total new members during the month. This indicates that the majority of the members joining the organised sector workforce of the country are first-time job seekers.
Data also shows that approximately 10.15 lakh members re-joined the EPFO, more than 8.59% as compared to last year. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement, thus extending their social security protection.
Gender-wise analysis of payroll data reflects that enrolment of women members was 2.78 lakh in February 2023, around 19.93% of the net member addition for the month. Of these, 1.89 lakh women members are the new joinees. This is around 25.65% addition of all the new joinees. In terms of women’s participation, the net member addition and new member addition have registered the highest proportion in the past four months. This indicates a growing trend of women participation in the organised workforce.
State-wise payroll figures highlight that month-on-month growing trend in net member addition is reflected in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, etc. In terms of net member addition, top 5 states are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Delhi. These states together constitute 58.62% of net member addition during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.90% of net members, followed by Tamil Nadu with 11.92% during the month.
The classification of industry-wise payroll data indicates that ‘Expert Services’ (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities etc.) constitutes 41.17% of total member addition during the month. Comparing industry-wise data with that of previous month, higher enrolments have been noticed in leather products, garment-making, establishments engaged in rendering courier services, fish processing and non-veg food preservation, etc.
From the month of April 2018, the EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards. In monthly payroll data, the count of members joining the EPFO for the first time through Aadhaar-validated Universal Account Number (UAN), existing members exiting from coverage of the EPFO and those who exited but re-joining as members, is taken to arrive at the net monthly payroll.
The EPFO is a social security organisation responsible for providing social security benefits in the form of provident, pension and insurance funds to the organised workforce of the country covered under the provisions of Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
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