In good news for about 50 lakh Central Government employees, the norms for withdrawal of General Provident Fund (GPF) have been relaxed which will enable them to receive payments within 15 days.
Employees can also withdraw the fund for select purposes after completing 10 years of service, as against 15 years of service earlier.
The GPF can be taken for education -- including primary, secondary and higher education, covering all streams and institutions. Earlier, a subscriber could withdraw GPF for beyond the high school stage.
“Some amendments have been made (in rules) from time to time to address the concerns raised by the subscribers. However, the provisions, largely remain restrictive. There is a felt need to liberalise provisions, raise limits and simplify the procedure,” the Ministry said.