Around 8.2 lakh members of retirement fund body EPFO and private PF trusts have dipped into their savings and withdrawn Rs 3,243.17 crore to sustain in the lockdown imposed to contain Covid-19.
Earlier last month on March 28, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had allowed formal sector workers under its ambit to withdraw a non-refundable advance from their retirement savings to deal with hardships because of the lockdown.
“The EPFO under the Union ministry of labour & employment has settled a total of 12.91 lakh claims, including 7.40 lakh Covid-19 claims under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) package,” a labour ministry statement said.
Claims settlement involves disbursal of total amount of Rs 4,684.52 crore which includes Rs 2,367.65 crore Covid claims under the PMGKY package.
The exempted private PF trusts have also risen to the occasion, the ministry said.
As on April 27, 2020, Rs 875.52 crore has been disbursed to 79,743 PF members as advance for Covid-19 by the exempted PF Trusts under this scheme, with 222 private sector establishments disbursing Rs 338.23 crore to 54,641 beneficiaries, 76 public sector establishments disbursing Rs 524.75 crores to 24,178 beneficiaries and 23 cooperative sector establishments disbursing Rs 12.54 crores to 924 claimants, it said.
