LATEST UPSC UPDATE: UPSC EPFO PRECRUITMENT 2020-CHANGE OF CENTRE

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released an official notice for the candidates who have applied for the recruitment test for Enforcement Officer/Accounts Officer in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) that will be held on May 9, 2021.

Candidates will be given option to submit their revised choice of exam centre/city in order to make it convenient for them to appear in the exam. The window of submitting the revised choice of Centres by the candidates will be operational in two phases i.e. December 15-21 2020 (06.00 PM) and December 29, 2020 to January 4, 2021 (06.00 PM).

“Keeping in view the large number of candidates and requests received from the candidates for changing their Centres as well as requests received from candidates for open centres at Kolkata and Jaipur being more than their capacity, the Commission has decided to give an opportunity to the candidates, if they wish, to submit their revised choice of Centre for the Recruitment Test. The requests of the candidates for change in their Centres will be considered against the available capacities at the existing Centres as well as new centres which have been added,” the official notice reads.

The EPFO recruitment exam will now be held at 72 centres across India. 49 centres having available capacity will be opened in the first phase. In the second phase, after adjusting the options given by the candidates, other centres shall be opened as feasible.

The requests for change in the Centres will be considered based on the principle of “first apply-first allot” basis and once the capacity of a particular Centre is attained, the same will be frozen, the notice reads.

The Recruitment Test for the posts of EO/AO in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization earlier was scheduled to take place on 04th October 2020. However, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABOUT THE EXAM:

UPSC is known for conducting some of the most coveted examinations in the country. One of them is the examination for the recruitment of Enforcement Officer/Accounts Officer in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). This exam is widely known as the UPSC EPFO examination. The UPSC EPFO exam 2020 is taking place to fill a total of 421 vacancies.

What is UPSC EPFO Eligibility Criteria?

The candidates need to satisfy some basic UPSC EPFO eligibility criteria in order to be considered for the selection process. Each criterion has been explained below.

1. Nationality

The interested candidate must mandatorily be a citizen of India in order to be eligible for this post. If not, the candidate can be still considered eligible if he/she is either:

• a subject of Nepal/Bhutan
• a Tibetan refugee settled permanently in India (since 1962).
• a person of Indian origin settled permanently in India from countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Vietnam, and other East African countries.  

2. Age Limit: The upper age limit for the post is 30 years.

3. Education

The candidate must possess a Bachelor's degree (any subject). Candidates having the following qualification will be preferred.

• Bachelor’s degree in Law
• Integrated Five years Degree in Law
• Masters in Business Administration
• Post Graduate Diploma in Management
• Company Secretary
• Chartered Accountants
• Cost and Management Accountant
• An experience of two years in Administration/Accounts/Legal Matters in any government or private organization (listed) will be desirable.

 

UPSC EPFO Selection Process

• The selection for the post of Enforcement Officer will be done on the basis of a two-stage process.
• The first stage will consist of a Recruitment Test which will be a pen & paper test. The candidates must note that the Recruitment Test will be conducted only in case of an overwhelming number of applications being received by the commission.
• The candidates will eventually face the final interview.

 If the RT is conducted, the candidate will have to achieve a minimum level of suitability in both of these stages, which will be decided by the commission. Recruitment Test (RT) and Interview carry weightage in the ratio of 75:25 for the candidates shortlisted based on Recruitment Test (RT) and qualify in the interview.

 

UPSC EPFO Syllabus

 The candidates can have an overlook at the subjects from which the questions will be asked in the Recruitment Test. The candidates need to study the following nine subjects thoroughly:

• General English
• Social Security in India
• Industrial Relations & Labour Laws.
• Current Events and Developmental Issues.
• Indian Polity & Economy.
• General Mental Ability & Quantitative Aptitude.
• Indian Freedom Struggle.
• General Science & knowledge of Computer applications.
• General Accounting Principles.

 

UPSC EPFO Exam Pattern

• The UPSC has stated the following scheme of examination for the Recruitment Test.
• The RT will consist of Multiple-Choice Objective Type Questions.
• The entire duration of the RT will be 120 minutes.
• All questions will carry the same amount of marks.
• A negative marking of 1/3rd of the marks assigned will be applicable for every wrong answer.
• No such penalty will be applicable for un-attempted questions.

 

UPSC EPFO EO Books and Resources for Preparation

ABOUT EPFO:

• EPFO is one of the World's largest Social Security Organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions undertaken. At present it maintains 19.34 crore accounts (Annual Report 2016-17) pertaining to its members.
• The Employees' Provident Fund came into existence with the promulgation of the Employees' Provident Funds Ordinance on the 15th November, 1951.
• It was replaced by the Employees' Provident Funds Act, 1952. The Employees' Provident Funds Bill was introduced in the Parliament as Bill Number 15 of the year 1952 as a Bill to provide for the institution of provident funds for employees in factories and other establishments. The Act is now referred as the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 which extends to the whole of India.
• The Act and Schemes framed there under are administered by a tri-partite Board known as the Central Board of Trustees, Employees' Provident Fund,consisting of representatives of Government (Both Central and State), Employers, and Employees.
• The Central Board of Trustees administers a contributory provident fund, pension scheme and an insurance scheme for the workforce engaged in the organized sector in India.
• The Board is assisted by the Employees’ PF Organization (EPFO), consisting of offices at 135 locations across the country.
• The Organization has a well-equipped training set up where officers and employees of the Organization as well as Representatives of the Employers and Employees attend sessions for trainings and seminars.
• The EPFO is under the administrative control of Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.

 

EPFO Schemes

1. EPF Scheme 1952

• Accumulation plus interest upon retirement and death
• Partial withdrawals allowed for education, marriage, illness and house construction
• Housing Scheme for EPFO Members to achieve Hon'ble Prime Minister's Vision of housing to all Indians by 2022 

2. Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS)

• Monthly benefit for superannuation/retirement, disability, survivor, widow(er) and children
• Minimum pension on disablement
• Past service benefit to participants of erstwhile Family Pension Scheme, 1971

 3. Insurance Scheme 1976 (EDLI)

• Benefit provided in case of death of an employee who was a member of the scheme at the time of death
• Benefit amount 20 times of the wages. Maximum benefit of 6 lakh.