BMS to protest outside EPFO offices across India today to demand hike in pension

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) will on Thursday hold a nationwide protest outside the offices of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), demanding a hike in EPS95 pension from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 per month.

According to a statement issued by the BMS on Monday, “The EPS95 pension is becoming a big issue in the organised sector involving nearly 65 lakh pensioners. During the Covid-19 days also those who have worked lifelong got only a partial amount of minimum pension of ₹1,000. This is less than the destitute pension. Hence, the minimum pension under EPS95 should be hiked to ₹5,000 per month from existing ₹1,000 per month.”

The BMS, a trade union affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had said that any hike in minimum pension will benefit these 65 lakh pensioners.

“When the pension amount was enhanced to ₹1,000 earlier, it benefited only 14 lakh out of the nearly 44 lakh eligible pensioners at that time,” the statement added.

The BMS also demanded that EPS95 pensioners should be covered under the Union government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme as they (pensioners) have low pensions and are unable to get treatment at super speciality hospitals.

The Centre should formulate a universal pension scheme so that it is 50% of the last drawn salary, it further said.

The BMS highlighted that all the above issues were raised during the pre-Budget consultation meeting held in December last year in the presence of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The demand for the hike in EPS95 pension comes days after the BMS held a meeting on January 5 to discuss strategies to oppose the privatisation plans of the Union government.

Opposing the asset monetisation of the government, the BMS said, “It is not right to sell the institutions that started after independence in the hands of the private sector. BMS has been saying that PSUs have always worked to strengthen the country and have been the backbone of the country.”