Miscellaneous Schemes under Ministry of Labour and Employment

1. Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourer – 2021

• Type: Central Sector Scheme.
• Tenure: 2021–22 to 2025–26.
• Purpose: Complete eradication of the bonded labour system.

Key Features:

• Rehabilitation Assistance (Direct Cash/Annuity):
  • ₹1 lakh → Adult male beneficiaries.
  • ₹2 lakhs → Special categories (orphans, child labourers, women).
  • ₹3 lakhs → Extreme deprivation cases (transgender persons, women/children rescued from sexual exploitation).
• Bonded Labour Rehabilitation Fund (District Level):
  • Permanent corpus of ₹10 lakh per district, renewable.
  • Penalties from offenders deposited in corpus.
  • At DM’s disposal for providing immediate financial relief.
• Flexibility: DM/SDM may extend benefits under any other welfare scheme, even if case not strictly bonded labour.
• Monitoring: By Central Monitoring Committee (as under NCLP).

👉 Essence: Financial + institutional framework to rehabilitate bonded labour survivors and prevent re-bondage.

2. Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY)

• Eligibility: Employees covered under Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948.
• Purpose: Provide relief during unemployment.
• Introduced as pilot scheme in July 2018

Benefits:

• Cash compensation → up to 90 days, once in lifetime.
• Quantum → 50% of average daily earnings.
• Condition → Insured Person (IP) must have been in insurable employment for ≥ 2 years with minimum contributions.
• Disbursement → Payable after 30 days of unemployment.
• Ease of Claim → No employer filing needed, affidavit by claimant suffices.

👉 Essence: First-ever unemployment allowance for ESI-covered workers.

3. Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Scheme

• Purpose: Insurance against sickness, maternity, disablement, death due to injury; plus medical care for families.
• Eligibility: Employees (including transgender persons) earning ≤ ₹21,000/month.
• Coverage: Factories & establishments with ≥10 employees (20 in some states).
• Launch date: Initially implemented in Kanpur and Delhi on 24 February 1952

Financing:

• Employer → 3.25% of wages.
• Employee → 0.75% of wages (exempt if < ₹137/day).

Implementing Agency:

• Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

👉 Essence: India’s largest social security scheme providing both cash + medical benefits.

4. Shram Suvidha Portal

• A Unified Portal for Labour and Employment.
• Launch date: Launched on 16 October 2014 as a unified digital platform under the Ministry of Labour & Employment.
• Purpose: One-stop digital platform connecting employers, employees, enforcement agencies.
• Features:
  • Transparency in compliance.
  • Each unit gets a Labour Identification Number (LIN) for uniform inspection and monitoring.

👉 Essence: Ease of doing business + compliance simplification.

5. Universal Account Number (UAN)

• Definition: 12-digit unique number for every EPF-contributing employee.
• Launch date: UAN was rolled out between January and June 2014, with allocation beginning in that period
• Purpose: Makes PF account portable and universally accessible across jobs.

👉 Essence: One permanent ID for lifelong Provident Fund tracking.

6. National Career Service (NCS) Portal

• Purpose: Online platform for employment-related services.
• Launch date: Unveiled on 20 July 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a digital replacement for traditional job exchanges
• Features:
  • Registration of employers, job seekers, placement agencies, training providers.
  • Provides job matching, career counselling, skill training info.
• Cost: Services are free of charge.

👉 Essence: A government-backed digital employment exchange.

7. Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS)

• Type: Social Security Scheme.
• Nature: Defined Contribution – Defined Benefit scheme.
• Launch date: Came into force on 16 November 1995 under the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
• Purpose: Lifelong pension post-retirement → ensures financial stability.

Funding:

• Employer → 8.33% of wages.
• Government → 1.16% of wages (up to wage ceiling ₹15,000/month).
• Benefits funded from these contributions.

Minimum Pension:

• ₹1,000/month (since Sep 2014).

👉 Essence: Provides a safety net in old age, ensuring continuity of income.