Retirement fund body EPFO recorded net new enrolments of 14.65 lakh in July, 31.28 per cent higher than 11.16 lakh in June this year, giving a perspective of formal sector employment in the country.
The provisional payroll data of EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) released on Monday showed a growing trend for the last four months.
For the month of July, the net subscriber addition has increased by 31.28 per cent as compared to the previous month of June 2021 when the total additions were 11.16 lakh, a labour ministry statement said.
Net new enrolment with the EPFO in June this year was revised downwards to 11.16 lakh from the provisional estimates of 12.83 lakh released last month.
The data showed that net new enrolments stood at 8.9 lakh in April and 6.57 lakh in May this year.
The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic began in mid-April this year, which forced many states to impose fresh lockdown restrictions.
The ministry said of the total 14.65 lakh net subscribers, around 9.02 lakh new members have come under the social security umbrella of EPFO for the first time.
Around 5.63 lakh net subscribers exited but rejoined EPFO by changing jobs within the establishments covered by the retirement fund body.
This shows that the majority of subscribers opted to continue their membership with EPFO by transferring their past accumulations from previous job to the current PF account rather than applying for final withdrawal, it stated.
During July 2021, the number of members who have joined EPFO for the first time has increased by 6 per cent, members who re-joined rose by around 9 per cent while those who exited have decreased by 36.84 per cent as compared to the previous month, the ministry stated.
Age-wise comparison of payroll data shows that the age-group of 22-25 years registered the highest number of net enrolments at 3.88 lakh in July, followed by 18-21 years at around 3.27 lakh.
This indicates many first-time job seekers are joining organised sector workforce in large numbers and have contributed around 48.82 per cent of total net subscriber additions in July 2021, the ministry added.
State-wise, establishments covered in Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka took the lead by adding approximately 9.17 lakh subscribers during the month, which is around 62.62 per cent of total net payroll addition across all age groups.
Gender-wise analysis shows that the share of female enrolment was approximately 20.56 per cent of the total net subscriber addition. The net addition of female subscribers increased to 3.01 lakh during July 2021 as compared to 2.18 lakh in June 2021.
This is largely due to lower female member exits and higher new joining during the month, the statement added.
As per industry-wise payroll data, the 'expert services' category (consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors etc.) constituted 41.62 per cent of total subscriber additions during the month.
Besides, growing trend in net payroll additions has been noted in industries like trading-commercial establishments, engineering products, building and construction, textiles, garment making, hospitals and financing establishments.
The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updation of employees' record is a continuous process. Hence, the previous data gets updated every month.
Since May 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards, the ministry said.
EPFO provides provident fund and pension benefits to the members on their retirement, and family pension and insurance benefits to their families in case of untimely death of the member.
The EPFO is the country's principal organisation responsible for providing social security benefits to the organised/semi-organised sector workforce covered under the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
