Cabinet approves extension of ABRY deadline till Mar 2022

PTI, Jun 30, 2021, 5:58 PM IST

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the extension of the last date of registration under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) by nine months till March 31, 2022, which would boost fresh hiring amid the pandemic.

”The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister 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 June 30, 2021, to March 31, 2022,” according to an official statement.

Consequent upon this extension, it is expected that 71.8 lakh jobs will be generated in the formal sector as against the earlier projection of 58.5 lakh, it added. As on June 18 this year, benefits amounting to Rs 902 crore have been given to 21.42 lakh beneficiaries through 79,577 establishments under the ABRY, it said.

The scheme’s estimated expenditure, including the expenditure for the proposed extended period of registration up to March 31, 2020, will be Rs 22,098 crore.

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

Under the ABRY, establishments registered with EPFO and their new employees drawing monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000 are being benefited if the establishment recruits new employees or those who lost their job between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020.

Under ABRY, the government is crediting for two years both the employees’ and employers’ share (24 per cent of wages) or only the employees’ share (12 per cent of wages), depending on the strength of EPFO registered establishments.

The ABRY was announced as one of the measures under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 package to boost the economy and increase employment generation in the formal sector during the post-pandemic recovery phase.