ESIC-run social security scheme adds 7.41L new members in July

New Delhi: Around 7.41 lakh new members joined the ESIC-run social security scheme in July this year, against 8.13 lakh in the previous month, official data showed on Friday, giving a perspective on formal sector employment in the country.

The latest data is part of a report released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday.

Gross new enrolments with the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) were registered at 4.81 lakh in May this year, compared to 2.6 lakh in April 2020.

The government had imposed a nation-wide lockdown on March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus infections. The unlock phase started in June.

As many as 8.21 lakh new members had joined the scheme run by the ESIC in March 2020, against 11.83 lakh subscribers in February, according to the payroll data released in May.

The NSO report showed gross enrolments of new subscribers with the ESIC were 1.51 crore in 2019-20, against 1.49 crore in the previous fiscal.

During the period September 2017 to March 2018, around 83.35 lakh new subscribers had joined the ESIC scheme.

The report said that gross new enrolments with the ESIC during the September 2017 to July 2020 period were 4.07 crore.

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

It has been releasing such data of these bodies since April 2018, covering the period starting from September 2017.

According to the report, net new enrolments with retirement fund body EPFO stood at 8.45 lakh in July, up from 4.82 lakh in June

this year.