KOCHI: In a huge step towards the safety and security of the contract labourers, Kochi Corporation has extended the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme to them. The development follows an order passed by the Central Government asking the municipal councils and corporations in the state to provide the EPF to all their employees. Under the scheme, the contract workers can avail the benefit of a monthly pension for their contribution each month for a period of 10 years. In addition, the employees will be entitled to the benefits of insurance in the case of death or causality, and can also avail widow pension. “We have set aside an amount of `24 lakh for the EPF scheme. Most of the contract labourers have been enrolled in the scheme. Now, even a daily-wage labourer will be able to receive the benefits of the EPF,” said T K Ashraf, chairman, Health Standing Committee, Kochi Corporation. The health department of the Corporation has the largest number of casual workers under it. Most of them are employed for seasonal tasks like cleanliness drives, seasonal disease prevention drives, clearing of drains before the onset of monsoon and so on. Another set is from the revenue department mainly involved in bill collection. As of now, a total of 540 persons from the health department, 23 from the revenue department and five drivers have been enrolled under the scheme. The employees will remit 12 per cent of their monthly salary while the Corporation will contribute 13.67 per cent. “The order was passed in January 2011. However, the processing took a few months. After the enrolment of the members, we started collecting the remittances from November 2011. We have now covered most of the contract employees. Soon the number might go up as many workers will now be employed with onset of the monsoons,” said Rajesh Kumar from the Corporation’s accounts department.
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