Cabinet approves Universal Service Obligation Fund Scheme for providing Mobile Coverage in Arunachal Pradesh and two Districts of Assam under the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for North Eastern Region Posted On: 09 DEC 2020 3:44PM by PIB Delhi



  • The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for provision of a Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) Scheme for providing Mobile Coverage in Arunachal Pradesh and two Districts of Assam,namely KarbiAnglong and Dima Hasao, under the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for North Eastern Region (NER).


  • The project envisages to provide mobile coverage to 2374 uncovered villages (1683 in Arunachal Pradesh and 691 in two districts of Assam) at an estimated cost of implementation about Rs.2,029 crore including operational expenses for five years.


  • The project would be funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund. The project is targeted to be completed by December, 2022.


  • The work related to provision of 4G mobile services in identified uncovered villages will be awarded through open competitive bidding process as per extant USOF procedures.


  • The provisioning of mobile services in the remote and difficult uncovered areas of Arunachal Pradesh and two districts of Assam will enhance digital connectivity useful for self-reliance, facilitate learning, dissemination of information and knowledge, skill upgradation and development, disaster management, e-governance initiatives, establishment of enterprises and e-commerce facilities, provision of adequate support to educational institutes for knowledge sharing and availability of job opportunities and fulfilling the vision of Digital India promoting domestic manufacturing and fulfilling the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat.


Cabinet approves Atmanirbhar Bharat RojgarYojana (ABRY) Posted On: 09 DEC 2020 3:42PM by PIB Delhi



  • The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for Atmanirbhar Bharat RojgarYojana (ABRY) to boost employment in formal sector and incentivize creation of new employment opportunities during the Covid recovery phase under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package 3.0.


  • Cabinet has approved an expenditure of Rs. 1,584 crore for the current financial yearand Rs.22,810 crore for the entire Scheme period i.e. 2020-2023.


  • The salient features of the Scheme are as under: Government of India will provide subsidy for two years in respect of new employees engaged on or after 1st October, 2020 and upto 30th June, 2021


  • Government of India will pay both 12% employees' contribution and 12% employers' contribution i.e. 24% of wages towards EPF in respect of new employees in establishments employing upto 1000 employees for two years,


  • Government of India will pay only employees' share of EPF contribution i.e. 12% of wages in respect of new employees in establishments employing more than 1000 employee for two years.


  • An employee drawing monthly wage of less than Rs. 15000/- who was not working in any establishment registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) before 1st October, 2020 and did not have a Universal Account Number or EPF Member account number prior to 1stOctober 2020 will be eligible for the benefit,


  • Any EPF member possessing Universal Account Number (UAN) drawing monthly wage of less than Rs. 15000/- who made exit from employment during Covid pandemic from 01.03.2020 to 30.09.2020 and did not join employment in any EPF covered establishment up to 30.09.2020 will also be eligible to avail benefit,


  • EPFO will credit the contribution in Aadhaar seeded account of members in electronic manner,


  • vii. EPFO shall develop a software for the scheme and also develop a procedure which is transparent and accountable at their end.


  • EPFO shall work out modality to ensure that there is no overlapping of benefits provided under ABRY with any other scheme implemented by EPFO.