India honored with the ISSA Good Practice Award
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India honored with the ISSA Good Practice Award

Context

India has been honored with the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Good Practice Award for Asia and Pacific 2024, at the Regional Social Security Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

More on News:

  • The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, was lauded for its innovative and inclusive social security initiatives, receiving five Certificates of Merit for various programs.
  • EPFO also received a Special Mention for the Digital Life Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan Patra), demonstrating its commitment to supporting pensioners with Aadhaar-based biometric authentication for easy life certificate submission.

The five award categories and brief description:

  1. Communication Channels: – Reaching stakeholders through different Media
    • EPFO adopted the ISSA Guidelines on Communication by developing a comprehensive Communication Framework Document (CFD).
    • This framework leverages both digital and non-digital platforms, such as webinars, SMS, emails, and social media.
  2. E-proceedings: – Use of information and communication technology in justice delivery
    • Maintaining regular compliance is essential in a contributory social security system. In this process, regulators carry out judicial proceedings to assess the dues owed by defaulting employers.
  3. Nidhi Aapke Nikat 2.0: – Ensuring last mile delivery of Services
    • EPFO has presence in the country through 139 Regional Offices and 117 District Offices.
    • However, there is absence of EPFO in more than 500 districts of the country.
    • The Nidhi Aapke Nikat programme was launched to improve convenience for members, pensioners, and employers by bringing services closer to their residences.
  4. Multilingual Call Centres: – Effort towards an inclusive grievance redressal 
    • EPFO introduced multilingual call centers providing support in 12 regional languages.
    • This initiative aligns with the ISSA Guidelines on Service Quality, ensuring inclusive communication for India’s diverse linguistic communities.
  5. Prayaas – Prioritizing Pensioners
    •  It is an initiative undertaken by EPFO for handing over pension payment orders (PPO) to retiring members of the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 on the day of retirement itself.

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