Friendly PF office

The Government has announced modernisation plans for the employees provident fund to provide better services to the 2.4 crore members.

Under the proposed plan, the members would get claims settled within two or there days. The plan is titled `Re-inventing EPF-India'. The immediate objective is to enable a worker access his or her balance in any of the 267 EPF outlets in India.

A claim can be submitted at any office, irrespective of where he is employed. Initially, the plan will be implemented in Indore, Kota, Gurgaon, Patna, Mangalore and Hyderabad in October 2001, and elsewhere by August 2004. There is also a plan to issue to members a nationally unique identity number with a smart card with details of the employee. The Social Security Number would be employee-specific at all times. There are now 26 million people using the old-age income security plan. -- BL Resarch Bureau