The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) commemorated its 72nd Foundation Day with a grand ceremony held at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi. The event was inaugurated by Union Minister for Labour & Employment and Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya. Ms. Sumita Dawra, Secretary, Labour & Employment; Sh. Ramesh Krishnamurthi, Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC); and Sh. Ashok Kumar Singh, Director General, ESIC and members of Central Board of Trustees of EPFO were also present on the occasion.

The gathering celebrated the rich legacy of EPFO and its pivotal role in providing social security and financial stability to millions of members across the country.

In his keynote address, Dr. Mandaviya lauded the transformative journey of EPFO, underscoring its critical role in managing a vast corpus of savings for its members and enhancing social security provisions across the nation. Union Minister stressed the importance of robust IT platform, efficient system for grievance management and the implementation of member centric model of service delivery.

Dr. Mandaviya urged EPFO employees to embrace the organization’s slogan, "Hum Hai Na", reminding them daily of their duty to serve the people. He emphasized that true service is measured by the impact employees make whether by assisting those in need or addressing issues.

Further, he encouraged to increase pension coverage with a focus on enhancing last mile delivery of services. He called on EPFO's officers and staff to uphold the highest standards of integrity, dedication, empathy and professionalism in their service to members. He stressed that continuous skill enhancement and capacity-building efforts within the organization are paramount to adapting to evolving challenges and improving service delivery.

Ms. Sumita Dawra, Secretary (Labour & Employment) on the occasion congratulated all the award recipients and commended their outstanding contributions toward the organization's mission.She stressed the need of the officers and staff of EPFO to work for implementation, outreach and monitoring of Employees Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme in the best possible manner, announced in the Budget 2024-2025.

In his welcome address, Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC) highlighted that number of contributing establishments   has crossed 7.8 lakhs while the number of contributing members has exceeded 7.6 crores. He reiterated EPFO’s ongoing commitment to serving the nation’s workforce and emphasized the collective efforts required to fulfil EPFO’s vision for social security and economic empowerment for all its members. Reforms like IT database centralisation and modified electronic challan cum return will provide a technological boost to EPFO, he added.

The function also featured the Bhavishya Nidhi Awards, 2024 presented by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Labour & Employment, Youth Affairs & Sports in the following categories: -

•  Best Regional Office (Large) - RO Raipur
•  Best Regional Office (Small) - RO Rohtak
• Best District Office - DO Palakkad
• Best Remote Office - RO Port Blair
• Best Zonal Office - ZO Telangana
• Best Office in Grievance Management - RO Hyderabad (Barkatpura)
• Best Office in Pro-Active Settlement - RO Ahmedabad
• Best Performance in Jeevan Pramaan - RO Tirunelveli
• Best NAN 2.0 Campaign - RO Delhi (East)
• Bhavishya Nidhi Swachhata Award 2024 - RO Rajamahendravaram
• Best Innovation - RO Hubli
• Best Tech Intervention - Smt. Satyabhama, JD(IS)
• Best Achievement in Capacity Building - Sh. Gaurav Srivastava, Shri Altamash Ali, Shri Naveen Juneja, Smt. Archana Janu, Shri Nadeem Ahmed, Shri Nikunj Meena, Shri Saurabh Kumar
• Best Exempted Trust - M/s Reliance Industries Ltd (MH/BAN/1543600X)
• Outstanding Sports Achievements - ZO Chennai & Puducherry
• Sportsperson of the Year -Female - Ms. Radhika Gupta, SSSA, RO Kandivali East
• Sportsperson of the Year – Male - Shri Clement Augustine, SSSA, RO Kottayam and Shri P. Shiva Kumar, SSSA, RO Chennai North

Dr Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the awardees and emphasised on the need to learn and emulate their good practices for better service delivery. He, further, reiterated the vision of “Viksit Bharat” and for an enhanced role of EPFO in developed India to provide social security to citizens.

To commemorate the 72nd Foundation Day, several key releases were made, including the Beneficiaries' Experience Booklet “Ek Tukda Muskaan” featuring impactful narratives from EPFO members, the State Profile Booklet 2024, the Pension and EDLI Manual, and the Annual Compilation of the EPFO Newsletter. A legal bulletin, titled ‘Adyatan,’ was also unveiled. The audience was further treated to a video presentation that chronicled EPFO’s milestones and achievements over its decades-long journey.

The Foundation Day Function was attended by more than 700 guests, including employees of EPFO, officers of Ministry of Labour and Employment representatives of multilateral institutions, banks and media persons at the Ambedkar International Centre. The event was virtually joined by approximately 8000 officers and staff from all offices of EPFO across the country.

The day’s celebrations concluded on a high note with cultural performances by EPFO employees, reflecting the diverse and inclusive culture of the organization. These performances showcased the creativity and enthusiasm of EPFO’s staff, further fostering a sense of community and pride among attendees. The formal proceedings closed with a vote of thanks.

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Himanshu Pathak

 

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