Employees, who lost employment due to the Covid-19 crisis, can now claim up to 50 percent of their wages for unemployment relief under the Atal Insured Welfare Scheme, linked to the State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
The Labor Ministry said in a statement that ESIC has issued guidelines to its unemployed members to apply under the recently expanded Atal Insured Welfare Scheme. Under this, relief will be paid to the members whose job has been lost due to Covid-19 crisis.
It states that these claims can be made online on the website of ESIC. Also, affidavits in respect of claims, photocopy of Aadhaar card and bank account details can be submitted by post or by going to ESIC branch office. According to the statement, ESIC, under the chairmanship of Labor and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar, has decided to extend the Atal Insured Welfare Scheme from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021 i.e. 1 year.
According to the ministry, it has also been decided to increase the unemployment relief allowance of those losing their employment to 50 per cent due to the Covid-19 epidemic and the lockdown imposed for its prevention, which was 25 per cent earlier.
Application submitted directly at ESIC branch offices
Under the current guidelines, claims for unemployment benefits were required to be made through the employer. According to Gangwar, giving a big relief to the workers, it has been decided that the applications for obtaining unemployment benefits can be submitted directly to the identified ESIC branch offices for workers who have lost their jobs or jobs.
The benefits of increased rate of relief and application facility for claims will continue till December 31, 2020. A notification has been issued in this regard. The payment of the relief amount will be sent directly to the bank accounts of the workers.
The Labor Minister appreciated the efforts of ESIC and said that at present this corporation provides various benefits and services to 3.49 crore families.
Salary up to 21 thousand
ESIC is an organization under the Ministry of Labor that provides insurance under ESIC scheme to employees up to Rs 21,000. That is, the workers whose salary was Rs 21000 per month will get the benefit of this scheme. About 3.5 crore families of the country are covered under ESI, due to which about 135 million people get the benefit of cash and health cover.
1.8 crore salaried people lost jobs
According to a CMIE report, more than 1.8 crore salaried employees in India have lost their jobs since April after the lockdown was imposed due to Corona. Reportedly, five million jobs were relocated in July and the plight of salaried employees has only worsened since the lockdown began.
Ms Kalinga
I’m also a jobless employee due to corona.