(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Â Sharjah-based Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust has urged the federal government to authorise all scheduled commercial banks to deliver the contributory social security scheme to overseas Indian workers to ensure participation of all the eligible expatriates.
In a memorandum to Overseas Indians Affairs Minister, Vaylar Ravi, Trust chairman K V Shamsudheen said majority of eligible expatriates were unable to join the scheme as there are only few outlets available abroad, especially in the Middle East, to enrol the subscribers.
Overseas Indian workers with Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports and aged between 18 and 50 years on an employment/contract visa are eligible to join the scheme. The ministry has authorised the Life Insurance Corporation of India and Bank of Baroda to deliver the scheme to eligible overseas Indian workers.
The eligible workers will also be able to open account at the office of the Protector of Emigrants (POE) in India or at special help desks located at the office of the authorised aggregators in ECR countries.
The memorandum said more and more people will come forward to participate in the scheme if all banks with permission to open NRE account are allowed to market the scheme. The government could instruct such banks to encourage all the NRE account holders to join the scheme through auto debit from their account.
The scheme called Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana (MGPSY) is designed to help Indian nationals with ECR passports to save for their pension in old age through NPS-Lite (National Pension Scheme); save for their return and resettlement and obtain free cost of life insurance cover.
The savings will be managed by credible public sector pension funds. While a worker save between Rs1,000 to Rs12,000 in his/her pension account they will get a co-contribution of Rs1,000 in case of male and Rs.2000 in case of female in the NPS-Lite account from Ministry.
The Return and Resettlement (R&R) saving is for addressing the immediate monitory need of the worker on his return back to India. The scheme will help to save money over a period of time to cover the resettlement expenses in the short term. While the worker invests Rs4,000 in this scheme they will also get a Ministry co-contribution of Rs900 in their R&R account.
The insurance cover under the scheme provides for a free cost life insurance cover and applicable as long as they are working in ECR country.
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