EPFO net payroll enrolment revised down to 3.44 mn
For April 2018, the net payroll enrolment was the highest since September at 6.85 lakh, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday showed.
In the latest release, the government has reduced the net payroll enrolment number of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for each of the seven months since September. For March, the net payroll enrolment number has been revised to 4.80 lakh from 6.13 lakh earlier, while for February, it has been revised lower to 4.99 lakh from 5.89 lakh earlier. For January, the enrolment number has been lowered to 5.42 lakh from 6.14 lakh earlier, while for December, it’s been reduced to 4.64 lakh from 5.35 lakh.
The ministry had released the data for September-March, the second in the EPFO enrollment data series, on May 25. The first set of payroll data was released by the EPFO in April.
The ministry said the levels of employment are from various sources, there are elements of overlap and the estimates are not additive. “The information is based on the number of subscribers and as the schemes provide for earlier payments, the tables reflect a dynamic status,” the ministry said.
During April, the maximum new payroll enrolment of 1,87,221 was recorded in the age bracket of 18 to 21 years followed by 1,80,892 in 22 to 25 years. Cumulatively for September-April, the highest enrollment was seen at 14.30 lakh for the age group 18-21 years, the release said.
The estimated total number of new National Pension Scheme (NPS) subscribers during the period September 2017- April 2018 is 5,12,040, the release said.
Though the members’ data above are linked to Aadhaar, the estimates may include temporary employees whose contributions may not be continuous for the entire year, the EPFO had earlier said in its footnote for the data.
The reliability of the dataset for determining job creation has been questioned by various economists. In January 2018, Soumya Kanti Ghosh and Pulok Ghosh had published a study titled, ‘Towards a Payroll Reporting in India’, and estimated that around 70 lakh jobs might be generated in 2017-18.
Source: Indian Express