As it tries to become future-ready, with a focus on technology, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is looking at an organisational revamp and review of its workforce.
To this end, the EPFO, which is the world’s largest social security organisation, has floated a Request for Proposal for a work study to rationalise its field offices and manpower requirements.
“EPFO intends to seek the expert services of a management or academic Institute having requisite expertise and experience in undertaking a study of organisations or entities preferably in the government or public sector,” it said in the RFQ.
The move comes at a time when a lot of its functions have been centralised and computerised like auto settlement of claims.
“Man power is proposed to be utilised more in areas where personal interaction is required,” the EPFO said.
The EPFO has an all-India presence with 21 zonal offices, 138 regional offices, 114 district offices, five special State offices, one national training institute and five zonal training institutes and over 24,000 employees.
“The EPFO of the future will be fully technologically governed,” it further said, adding that the organisational structure, the re-deployment and disposition of manpower, the career paths and requirements of officers and staff needs to be taken up as a comprehensive proposal for adoption so that the human resource component as well as the organisational structure across the country is prepared to absorb and exploit effectively the technology being envisaged.
The retirement fund manager has in the past also undertaken an organisation restructuring and also conducted a cadre restructuring in 2016 in which the basic structure of the organisation and various departments in EPFO has been changed.
However, since then massive changes have happened in the social security scenario in the country.
“This has led to huge demand and expectations from the stakeholders as well as from EPFO within. The only way these demands and expectations can be met are through a comprehensive cadre restructuring which can be achieved through rationalisation of field offices and manpower requirement,” it further said.
The deadline for submission of bids is October 13, 2022 and the tentative date for commencement of the study has been fixed as November 1 this year.