"A proposal to reduce threshold limit for coverage under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 from 20 to 10 employees is included in the proposed comprehensive amendment to the Act," Minister for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya informed Lok Sabha.
Replying to another question, the minister said there was no proposal to provide any minimum wage pension to all workers of the unorganised sector.
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In his written reply, Dattatreya said the government had proposed to merge three schemes - Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) and Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) being run for workers of the unorganised sector and to provide the benefit of the scheme through a single smart card to workers.
"This pilot project will be implemented in the 20 selected districts," he said.
The minister said the objective of these pilots is to ensure unorganised workers should have easy access to social security schemes, including registration, support for services, claiming benefits and grievance redressal through a single point of contact set up at a center near their place of residence.
"The data for these schemes will be entered in the single smart card, which will be proof of eligibility for the schemes," Dattatreya said.