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Business News/ Money / Calculators/  Scheme for overseas workers to gather steam
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Scheme for overseas workers to gather steam

Government will add to workers' contribution for NPS and UTI MIS.

Shyamal Banerjee/MintPremium
Shyamal Banerjee/Mint

The ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) plans to scale up the enrolment process for its voluntary Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana (MGPSY), which aims to provide overseas emigration check required (ECR) workers in ECR countries with pension, insurance and resettlement amount upon one’s return to India. The scheme, launched on 1 May 2012, is meant for overseas workers lacking a redressal or social security system in ECR countries.

The plan is to take the scheme to more people by reaching out to workers who are already staying abroad and by identifying areas in India from where most of such workers emigrate. In fact, the ministry will start enrolment across all emigration centres in India.

“We did not go strong initially as we wanted to test the implementation architecture and now we realize that it is quite robust. Now we have to test the enrolment process from outside India," said Atul Kumar Tiwari, joint secretary, MOIA. “We have talked to workers in these countries and employers too. All have shown interest."

What is the scheme?

MGPSY is a voluntary scheme for overseas Indian migrant workers having ECR passport, who are working or plan to work in countries where an emigration check is required. These are countries with strict employment norms and where workers do not have a proper grievance redressal mechanism.

Under the scheme, if a subscriber contributes 5,000 each year—1,000 for National Pension System (NPS) Lite and 4,000 for UTI Monthly Income Scheme (MIS)—the government contributes 1,900, out of which 1,000 goes for NPS and 900 towards MIS. The government’s contribution goes up to 2,000 for NPS for women subscribers. The contribution is applicable for a maximum period of five years or for the period of employment, whichever is earlier.

In addition, every subscriber gets a free insurance cover provided by Life Insurance Corp. of India which pays 30,000 in case of natural death, 75,000 in case of death or total permanent disability due to an accident and 37,500 in case of total partial disability due to an accident.

The subscribers need to mandatorily have a non-resident external or non-resident ordinary bank account to contribute to the scheme.

Future plans

“We plan to have mobile vans that will go to colonies in these countries where these workers stay and issue cards, collect money and provide information," said Tiwari. The ministry will soon roll out operations in the UAE and within a year plans to be in other countries such as Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The ministry also plans to increase the number of service providers, such as banks or aggregators affiliated to regulators. However, the ministry also plans to strengthen its existing infrastructure overseas.

Back home, the ministry is identifying pockets across India from where a majority of these workers go. “We will spread the information regarding the scheme," said Arun Rawat, programme manager, MGPSY.

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Published: 17 Apr 2013, 06:17 PM IST
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