Taking prime minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Housing for all by 2022’ forward, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has amended the EPF Scheme, 1952 to provide assistance in acquiring affordable houses to the EPF members by allowing withdrawal from PF to the extent of 90 percent of the total PF accumulation and also facilitating payment of instalment of housing loan.
An MoU to facilitate ‘Housing for All by 2022’ was signed between Central Provident Fund Commissioner, VP Joy and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), CMD, M Ravi Kanth recently.
The major objective of this scheme is to assist in building houses for workers integrating with housing programmes of the central and state governments.
The salient features of this scheme include bringing together all stake holders like workers, employers, financial institutions & housing agencies to provide workers’ need for housing, constituting housing societies for collective action to arrange housing units from public/private housing providers, apply to the concerned PF office through the society for getting certificate of fund and contribution and channelling the corpus of EPF savings to build affordable housing for the working class, withdrawal of up to 90 percent of accumulations in members Provident Fund Accounts is allowed among others.