COVID-19: Labour Ministry announces benefits via ESIC, EPFO to help bereaved families

Coimbatore: In order to provide for bereaved families that have lost their breadwinners to Covid-19, the Ministry of Labour recently announced benefits through the Social Securities scheme run by the ESIC and EPFO.

The scheme by the Centre sought to provide for workers without any additional cost to the employer. Insured Persons (IPs) under ESIC, after the death of the IP due to any employment injury, a pension equivalent to 90 percent of average daily wage drawn by the worker is available to the spouse and widowed mother for a lifetime and for children till they attain the age of 25 years. However, for the female child, the benefit is available till her marriage.

The Government has now announced that families of the insured persons under the ESIC scheme will get the same benefits as received by the dependent’s of insured persons. The scheme shall be effective for two years according to a statement released by the Ministry. The eligibility requirements are that the IP must have been registered on the ESIC online portal at least three months prior to the diagnosis of COVID disease resulting in death.The IP must have been employed for wages and contributions for at least 78 days and should have been paid or payable in respect of the deceased IP during a period of one year, immediately preceding the diagnosis of COVID disease resulting in death.

In the event of the maximum duration of sickness benefits being 91 days in a year, the Ministry has instructed that sick benefits at a daily rate of 70 percent of average daily wages may be availed by an insured person covered under ESIC Act to compensate the loss of wages for the period he/she remains absent from work due to sickness and provides certificates signed by medical practitioners. An amount of Rs. 15,000 is paid either to the eldest surviving member or to someone who performs the last rites of the person insured under the ESIC scheme.

Besides this, ESI beneficiaries who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic are also eligible for the scheme of Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana, a scheme that has been introduced to provide cash compensation to insured persons who have been rendered unemployed. The Ministry added in the statement provided to the Coimbatore sub regional office that the ESI scheme has been implemented completely in Erode district with effect from June 1, 2021. The factories and establishments of erstwhile non-implemented areas of Erode district are to register online with ESIC.