Crores of employees in India depend on their pension to live their lives after retirement. Official figures presented in Parliament show that the status of pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95), which is operated by EPFO, is very worrying. Sharing the data till March 31, 2025, Minister of State for Labor and Employment Shobha Karandlaje said that every second pensioner is living on a monthly pension of less than Rs 1500.
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Most people get a pension of less than Rs 1500
According to the data given in Parliament, out of a total of 81,48,490 pensioners, 49,15,416 people are getting a monthly pension of less than Rs 1500. That is, more than half of the retired employees are getting such a low pension, which makes it very difficult to survive.
Only 0.65% pensioners get more than 6000
The report also revealed that the number of people getting a pension of more than Rs 6000 is very less. Out of the total pensioners, only 53,541, i.e., 0.65 percent of people, are getting a pension of more than Rs 6000. This means that under EPS-95, most pensioners have to depend on a very low pension.
More than 80 lakh people get less than Rs 6000
According to the data, the number of people getting a monthly pension of less than Rs 4000 was 78,69,560, while the number of people getting less than Rs 6000 was 80,94,949. This clearly shows that the pension of most people is limited to the minimum level.
There was an increase in the pension distribution amount
The government also informed that the total pension amount distributed under the EPS scheme in 2022-23 was Rs 22,112.83 crore, which increased to Rs 23,027.93 crore in 2023-24. However, this marginal increase in the pension amount is considered inadequate according to the needs of the pensioners.
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Demand for a minimum monthly pension of Rs 9000
Trade unions have consistently raised the demand from the government that the minimum monthly pension under EPS-95 should be increased to Rs 9000. At present, the minimum monthly pension is only Rs 1000. Recently, there was also a discussion that it could be considered to increase it to Rs 7500, but no concrete decision has been taken on this yet.