Of the 3,852 establishments in the Jammu region that EPFO counts as eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PM-VBRY), 2,564 have registered. That is the number that matters to anyone about to start a first private-sector job, because the employer's registration is the first link in the chain.
What EPFO Jammu reported
EPFO's Regional Office in Jammu marked its 74th Foundation Day on Thursday, October 29. According to The Tribune's report, the office settled 80,946 claims worth Rs 267.53 crore in the current financial year and served 1,515 pensioners. On PM-VBRY it reported 2,564 of 3,852 eligible establishments registered, 9,874 beneficiaries registered under Part A of the scheme and 29,675 under Part B. The report does not say how those two beneficiary counts relate to each other, so they are best read as headline figures, not as a count of people paid.
Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-I Sumeet Singh called the scheme an important initiative for encouraging formal employment and job creation. Rajya Sabha MP Sat Paul Sharma, the chief guest, spoke about timely claim settlement and awareness of social security benefits.
How the scheme works
PM-VBRY was announced on August 15, 2025 and runs for two years, to July 2027. Going by The Week's explainer, the scheme has two parts.
- Part A, for the employee: a first-time private-sector worker earning up to Rs 1 lakh a month gets one month's EPF contribution, capped at Rs 15,000, paid in two instalments (after 6 months and after 12 months of continuous employment, the second after financial literacy training). Part of it is held in a savings instrument. Payment is by direct bank transfer linked to Aadhaar.
- Part B, for the employer: up to Rs 3,000 a month for each additional hire, for two years, with minimum hiring thresholds (at least 2 extra hires for firms under 50 employees, at least 5 for larger ones) and a six-month retention condition.
The official scheme pages were not reachable at the time of writing, so check the exact rules with EPFO before relying on any figure above.
Questions to ask before you join
- Has the company registered for PM-VBRY with EPFO?
- Is my UAN active and linked to Aadhaar and a bank account?
- Am I a first-time EPFO member, with no earlier PF account?
An employer that has not registered is the most likely reason a new hire would miss out, which is why the 2,564 of 3,852 gap is worth knowing about.
Sources: The Tribune; The Week.
