Sri Lankan workers temporarily employed in India would be able to keep contributing to the Employees’ Provident Fund administered by the Department of Labour — and be exempted from paying into India’s own Employees’ Provident Fund — under a Social Security Agreement now being negotiated between the two governments.
The arrangement is intended to remove the duplicate contributions that Sri Lankans posted to India currently face, requiring them to pay into two separate social security systems at once, the Daily Mirror reported.
The fourth round of bilateral talks on the draft concluded in Colombo on July 21 and 22, with both sides settling outstanding issues and finalising the clauses to be included. The Indian delegation was led by P. S. Gangadhar; the Sri Lankan side was headed by Commissioner General of Labour Nadeeka Wataliyadda, with officials from the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism also taking part.
A decade in negotiation
Talks on the agreement began close to a decade ago. The reciprocal terms would give Indian workers temporarily employed in Sri Lanka the same treatment, allowing them to continue contributing at home without paying again in the host country.
The pact is also expected to resolve a long-standing problem for Sri Lankans who have already paid into the Indian EPF but cannot get their money out. Indian regulations allow members to withdraw benefits from age 58, but many Sri Lankan contributors have been unable to do so in practice — largely because of difficulties opening or maintaining an Indian bank account after leaving the country. Once the agreement takes effect, eligible workers would be able to draw those accumulated benefits through a defined mechanism.
No date has been announced for signing or entry into force.
Source: Daily Mirror.
