Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 3 Jul: The Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner for Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Ajay K Mehra, addressed a press conference at the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Regional Office, Dehradun, today. He shared the progress, achievements and recent reform and digital initiatives undertaken by EPFO in the Uttarakhand region.
Mehra stated that Uttarakhand currently has around 9,744 contributing establishments and 7,74,377 contributing members covered under EPFO. He stated that all claims in the State are being settled within the prescribed timelines.
Appreciating the functioning of the Regional Office, Dehradun, he said that it has been providing efficient and citizen-centric services to stakeholders. He particularly praised the “Samvedana” Cell, an initiative of the Regional Office established to ensure prompt, compassionate and error-free settlement of death claims under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) and Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) Scheme. He announced that the model would be implemented across the zone to ensure timely and transparent services to beneficiaries.
During the press conference, Mehra also highlighted the Prime Minister Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PMVBRY), describing it as a flagship employment-oriented initiative of the Government of India aimed at promoting employment generation, enhancing youth employability and expanding social security coverage in the formal sector. He added that the scheme, with a total outlay of Rs 99,446 crore, is expected to facilitate the creation of more than 3.5 crore employment opportunities across the country over two years, including approximately 1.92 crore first-time entrants into the formal workforce. The scheme will cover jobs created between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2027, with additional incentives for the manufacturing sector.
Mehra also elaborated on the simplification and liberalisation of EPF partial withdrawal provisions undertaken to enhance the Ease of Living for members. He said that EPFO has consolidated 13 complex provisions into a simplified and streamlined framework. Under the revised provisions, partial withdrawals have been classified into three broad categories—essential needs, housing-related requirements and special circumstances. Members can now avail partial withdrawals up to 10 times for education and 5 times for marriage, compared to the earlier combined limit of three withdrawals. The minimum service requirement for all categories of partial withdrawals has also been reduced to 12 months. He added that a provision has been introduced to maintain 25 per cent of members’ contributions as the minimum balance, enabling members to earn higher interest while building a stronger retirement corpus.
Mehra further highlighted the Centralised IT Enabled System (CITES) developed to strengthen EPFO’s digital ecosystem. He said the system marks a significant step towards process simplification and automation, enabling faster claim settlement and more transparent, efficient and technology-driven service delivery. He stated that timely grievance redressal, expeditious claim settlement and disposal of long-pending cases remain EPFO’s highest priorities.
On the occasion, the long-pending EDLI Exemption case relating to Welham Boys’ School, Dehradun, was successfully resolved, and the EDLI Exemption Order was handed over by Ajay K Mehra to the school’s Principal, Sangeeta Kain.
The press conference was also attended by Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-I VVB Singh, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-II Udit Sah, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-II Mohammad Zaid, Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner Santosh Kumar and Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner Rajesh Kumar.
