The pandemic has taken a severe hit at the global markets, and that has resulted in job losses on a global scale. People are desperately in search of jobs, just to be able to make ends meet. The condition is even worse for those who are not all that educated and constitute the labour force, especially in India.

In the wake of the devastation left behind by the pandemic, the Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana. This scheme will envelop EPFO-registered establishments which will get subsidy for all new employees.

The scheme is put in action to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, and therefore will be in effect till 30th June 2021.

What do you need to know about the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana?

  1. EPFO-registered employers, if they add new employees compared to reference-based employees as compared to September 2020, will be included under the benefits of the scheme, if they add a minimum of two new employees if the reference base is 50 employees or less. If the reference base of more than 50, then the establishment would have to add a minimum of five new employees to get covered under the benefits of the scheme.
  2. If the new employees of the requisite number as stated by the scheme are recruited from October 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, the establishments will be covered for the next two years
  3. Employees who would now be joining establishments with monthly wages less than Rs 15,000 will be covered under the benefits of the scheme.
  4. Every EPFO-registered organization, if they take in new employees or those who had lost jobs between 1 March and September 30, only these specific employees shall get to enjoy the benefits of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana.
  5. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana, the central government will offer subsidies by the way of EPF contributions for two years because of the employment of newer eligible employees. The subsidy will be credited upfront in the Aadhaar-seeded EPFO accounts.
  6. For an establishment employing over 1,000 employees, employee’s contribution (12% of wages) and employer’s contributions (12% of the wages), thereby totaling 24% of the wages will be contributed by the Central government.
  7. If an establishment employed more than 1,000 employees, only employee’s EPF contributions (12% of EPF wages) will be contributed by the Central government.

Wrapping it all up

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar yojana Stimulus Package 3 basically aims at the re-employment of people. Losing jobs at a time where not everyone is hiring is a tough spot to be in. Add to that soaring prices of commodities and several other difficulties, there is no worse a time than this to be without a job.

Growing cognisant of the difficulties of the poor, the government of India has reworked several schemes and branched them further to reach out to all categories of labourers who have found it increasingly difficult to get by days.