There are still occasional calls for a minimum pension for senior individuals, especially old and impoverished women. The question of whether the administration was thinking of implementing a universal minimum pension plan was recently raised in Parliament.
On July 23, 2026, R Girirajan, a member of parliament, questioned the Rajya Sabha about whether the government was thinking of implementing a "minimum pension scheme for all" to help older people, especially elderly and impoverished women. He also asked for specifics on any such proposal.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje, responded to the inquiry by stating that there is no such intention to introduce the minimum pension program.
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Launching a social security fund is one of the provisions of the 2020 Social Security Code. Rather, the minister emphasised the provisions of the Code on Social Security 2020, which seek to provide social security benefits to unorganised sector workers, such as gig and platform workers.
"The Code also provides for setting up a Social Security Fund to finance the welfare scheme," the minister stated. Unorganised workers, gig workers, and platform workers may register under Section 113 of the Code on Social Security, 2020.
The government added that the establishment of a Social Security Fund to fund welfare programs for qualified employees is mandated by the Code on Social Security, 2020. Additionally, unorganised workers, gig workers, and platform workers can register under Section 113 of the Code to be covered by the social security system.
The entire amount of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) held in inactive accounts was another question posed to the Minister.
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According to Karandlaje, as of March 31, 2026, there were Rs 9,330.56 crores in outstanding EPF accounts under paragraph 72(6) of the EPF Scheme, 1952 (since replaced by paragraph 55 of the EPF Scheme, 2026).
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