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The Ministry of Labour and Employment provides additional social security benefits through ESIC and EPFO schemes to dependents of workers who die due to COVID-19. Dependent family members of registered Insured Persons under ESIC receive monthly payments at ninety percent of average daily wages for life. The deceased worker must have registered on the ESIC portal at least three months before the COVID-19 diagnosis and must have contributions paid for at least seventy-eight days in the preceding year. The ESIC scheme applies for two years starting from twenty-four March twenty-twenty. Under the EPFO Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, the maximum benefit increases to seven lakh rupees, and the minimum assurance benefit is two lakh fifty thousand rupees.
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Ministry of Labour & Employment
Posted On: 30 MAY 2021 2:04PM by PIB Delhi
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has announced additional benefits for workers through ESIC and EPFO schemes to address the fear and anxiety of workers about well-being of their family members due to increase in incidences of death due to COVID -19 pandemic. Enhanced social security is sought to be provided to the workers without any additional cost to the employer.
Currently for the Insured Persons (IPs) under ESIC, after death or disablement of the IP due to employment injury a pension equivalent to 90% of average daily wage drawn by the worker is available to the spouse and widowed mother for life long and for children till they attain the age of 25 years. For the female child, the benefit is available till her marriage.
To support the families of Insured Persons (IP) under the ESIC scheme, it has been decided that, all dependent family members of IPs who have been registered in the online portal of the ESIC prior to their diagnosis of COVID disease and subsequent death due to the disease, will be entitled to receive the same benefits and in the same scale as received by the dependents of insured persons who die as a result of employment injury, subject to the following eligibility conditions:
The IPs, who fulfill the eligibility conditions, and have died due to COVID disease, their dependants will be entitled to receive monthly payment @90% of average daily wages of the insured person during their life. The scheme will be effective for a period of two years from 24.03.2020.
Under the EPFO’s Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme all surviving dependent family members of the members of this scheme are eligible to avail benefits of EDLI in case of death in harness of the member. At present under this scheme, the benefits extended in case of death of a worker are no requirement of minimum service for payment of Gratuity, family pension is paid as per provisions under EPF & MP Act, sickness benefit of 70% of wages for 91 days in a year is paid in the event of worker falling sick and not attending office.
A notification issued by the Ministry has made following amendments to this:
These welfare measures will provide the much needed support to the families of workers who have died due to the COVID-19 disease and will protect them from financial hardships in these challenging times of pandemic.
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MS/Jk
(Release ID: 1722880)