The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for extending the terminal date for registration of beneficiaries for availing the benefit under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) for another nine months i.e. from 30th June, 2021 to 31st March, 2022. Consequent upon this extension, it is expected that 71.8 lakh employment will be generated in the formal sector as against the earlier projection of 58.5 lakh. As on 18.06.2021, benefit amounting to Rs.902 crore has been given to 21.42 Lakh beneficiaries through 79,577 establishments under ABRY.

Estimated expenditure of the scheme including the expenditure for the proposed extended period of registration upto 31.03.2020 will be Rs.22,098 crore.

This scheme is being implemented through Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) to reduce financial burden of the employers of various sectors/industries and to encourage them to hire more workers.

Under ABRY, establishments registered with EPFO and their new employees drawing monthly wage of less than Rs. 15,000/- are being benefited if the establishment recruits new employees or those who lost their job between 01.03.2020 to 30.09.2020.

Under ABRY, Government of India is crediting for a period of two years both the employees' and employers share' (24% of wages) or only the employees' share (12% of wages), depending on the strength of EPFO registered establishments. Detailed scheme guidelines can be seen on the website of Ministry of Labour & Employment and EPFO.

ABRY was announced as one of the measures under Aatmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 package to boost the economy and increase employment generation in formal sector during post Covid recovery phase. This scheme will minimize the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the country's economy and will ameliorate the hardship faced by low paid workers, provide incentive to employers for restarting and expanding business activities.

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DS