Govt plans to roll out social security code across country in three phases before 2019 Lok Sabha election

The labour ministry plans to roll out social security code across the country in three phases before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, according to media reports. [caption id=“attachment_1391363” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The pan-India launch of social security scheme is expected to bring about 50 crore workers under its cover. The basic idea behind the implementation is that the ministry does not want to take up issues that would trigger controversy especially when the general election is just months away from now, said a report by The Economic Times. Proposals like bringing the EPFO and ESIC under state social security boards while converting these two central organisations into fund managers could draw flak from the public, feels the ministry. Earlier in June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said social security cover was extended to around 50 crore people in the country, an increase of about 10 times since 2014. “The social security schemes of the government of India help cope with the uncertainties of life,” Modi said. The government, in June, was planning to raise the pension limit under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to up to Rs 10,000 per month from the existing slab of up to Rs 5,000, a top official had said. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman Hemant G Contractor had then said that proposal had been sent to the finance ministry with an aim to increase the subscriber base of APY, a social security scheme named after the late prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. — With PTI inputs