Govt to offer 50 per cent salary for 3 months as unemployment allowance to workers who lost jobs amid COVID pandemic

New Delhi, Aug 21 (KNN) The central government on Friday announced that that workers can directly claim 50 per cent of the average wage as against 25 per cent earlier, payable up to 90 days of joblessness, for their loss of employment between March 24 and December 31 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The benefits would be payable 30 days after unemployment as against 90 days earlier.

''ESIC is implementing the Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyna Yojna under which unemployment benefit is paid to the workers covered under ESI Scheme. The ESI Corporation has decided to extend the scheme for one more year upto 30th June 2021,'' ESIC said in a statement after a meeting chaired by Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar on Thursday.

It has been decided to relax the existing conditions and the amount of relief for workers who have lost employment during the Covid-19 pandemic period. The enhanced relief under the relaxed conditions will be payable during the period of 24.03.2020 to 31st December 2020, it added.

''Thereafter the scheme will be available with original eligibility conditions during the period January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021. Review of these conditions will be done after 31.12.2020 depending upon the need and demand for such relaxed conditions,'' it said.

The statement further said that the insured person can submit the claim directly to the ESIC branch office instead of the claim being forwarded by the last employer and the payment shall be made directly in the bank account of the person.

The Insured Person should have been in insurable employment for a minimum period of 2 years before his/her employment and should have contributed not less than 78 days in the contribution period immediately preceding to unemployment.

ESIC provides social security benefits like reasonable medical care and a range of cash benefits in times of need such as injury, sickness, death etc. It covers about 34.9 million families of workers, helping 135.6 million beneficiaries.