ESIC-run social security scheme adds over 13 lakh new members in March

New Delhi: Over 13 lakh new members joined the Employees‘ State Insurance Corporation or ESIC-run social security scheme in March 2023, according to an official data released on Thursday.

The latest data is part of a report -- Payroll Reporting in India: An Employment Perspective - March, 2023 -- released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

It showed that the gross new enrolments with ESIC rose to 1.49 crore in 2021-22, from 1.15 crore in 2020-21. It was 1.51 crore in 2019-20 and 1.49 crore in 2018-19.

The report said gross new enrolments with ESIC from September 2017 to March 2023 were 8.6 crore.

The NSO report is based on the payroll data of new subscribers of various social security schemes run by ESIC, the Employees‘ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

According to the report, net new enrolments with retirement fund body EPFO stood at 13.09 lakh in March 2023.

It showed that from September 2017 to March 2023, around 6.43 crore (gross) new subscribers joined the Employees‘ Provident Fund scheme.

According to the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, firms with more than 20 employees must provide workers with subscription to the retirement fund manager. New subscribers to the EPFO can therefore be taken as proxy for job creation in the labour market.

The report said since the number of subscribers is from various sources, there are elements of overlap, and the estimates are not additive.

“42,45,489 new subscribers joined and contributed in the NPS central government, state governments and corporate schemes during September, 2017 to March, 2023,” the report said.

NSO also said the report gives different perspectives on the levels of employment in the formal sector and does not measure employment at a holistic level.