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EPS Pension: In this era of inflation, where the prices of milk and vegetables are skyrocketing, millions of elderly people in the country are forced to survive on a meager monthly pension of just Rs. 1,000. For many years, EPS-95 pensioners have been hoping that the government will take notice of their plight and increase the minimum pension. Why, after such a long wait, is the government still not giving the green light?

Where is the bottleneck?
This issue recently heated up in the Lok Sabha. The question was straightforward: why is there such a delay in increasing the minimum pension under EPS? Why is the pension fixation process proceeding so slowly despite the Supreme Court's orders? The Ministry of Labour and Employment clarified its position, citing old data.
The government says that the minimum pension was fixed at Rs. 1,000 in 2014. Even then, the government had ensured, through budgetary support, that no elderly person received less than this amount. But the irony is that since 2014, inflation has increased manifold, but the pension amount has remained unchanged. The biggest problem is that this pension is neither linked to the dearness allowance nor to the cost of living index, due to which the purchasing power of the elderly is constantly decreasing.

What does the committee's report say?
The biggest reason the government has given for not increasing the pension is the 'actuarial deficit', i.e., a shortage of funds. The ministry explained that the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) is a 'pooled fund'. The calculation is simple: the employer contributes 8.33% of the employee's salary, and the government contributes 1.16% (up to a maximum salary of Rs. 15,000).

According to the government, data up to March 31, 2019, shows a huge financial deficit in the fund. Therefore, a significant increase in the pension amount or providing a dearness allowance does not seem possible at present. Moreover, when a high-level committee examined the feasibility of linking pensions to the dearness allowance (DA), they also threw up their hands. The report clearly stated that the current fund situation does not allow for providing the benefit of dearness allowance to pensioners. This is the technical hurdle that has kept the demand for ₹7,500 buried in the files.

What is happening after the Supreme Court order?
A ray of hope for pensioners was the Supreme Court order that mandated calculating pensions based on higher salaries. The government informed Parliament that the process of implementing this order is underway. Online applications were invited for this purpose, and millions of people have applied. However, verification by employers and the scrutiny of paperwork are taking considerable time. The government has cited its limitations and lack of funds, but it has not given any date or timeline for when the pension will be increased from ₹1,000 to ₹7,500. The situation regarding the demands for medical facilities and dearness allowance also remains unchanged.

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