Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor has urged the Indian government to increase the pension under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme to at least Rs. 5,000.
According to Mr Tharoor, the current minimum pension of EPF is inadequate for around 3.5 million under the scheme who had spent their working life in the most productive sectors of the national economy.
"There are cases of pensioners with 40 years' service receiving Rs. 550 a month. The basic pension should be raised to at least Rs. 5,000 a month," Mr Tharoor added.
He also wanted the Dearness Relief linkage to be provided on the pension as provided to all other pensioners. Otherwise, the scheme would not serve any purpose since the increase in cost of living would not be accounted for, he said.