EPF officers helping housewives and others at Gurdwara Sahib Seremban.
GURVINDER SINGH has been gainfully employed for almost two decades now but just like many others, the 43-year-old manager never found the time to name his beneficiary to his savings in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
The father to an 11-year-old boy said the long hours he put in at work and the need to travel extensively probably contributed to this.
So, when the Gurdwara Sahib Seremban management committee and the EPF decided to hold a session for members at the Sikh place of worship during a recent weekend, Gurvinder made it a point to do the necessary.
“The beneficiary naming process was so quick. Hats off to the EPF staff who were so accommodating and efficient,” he said.
Housewife Malkit Kaur, 48, attended the session to learn more about the i-Suri programme.
“I have friends who make a small monthly contribution under the i-Suri programme and they also got the 6.1% dividend declared for last year.
“I was told even the government credits some cash into their accounts every year and this is surely a great scheme for individuals like me,” she said.
The scheme was introduced in 2018 for wives of household heads, female heads of households who are widowed, divorced or single mothers as well as housewives who are registered in the national database on poverty (eKasih).
Seremban EPF branch head Norain Isthnin said the initiative was part of the organisation’s outreach programme to educate members on the fund’s services and products.
“Since January this year, the EPF has been sending out mobile teams to meet members so they have a better understanding of what we do and how they can benefit from our products.
“During these sessions, we explain to members about the conventional and Syariah savings schemes, death benefits and many others,” she said.
The EPF also has other schemes such as i-Lindung where members can buy insurance or takaful products, i-Saraan, which is a retirement incentive for members who are self-employed or not earning a regular income, and i-Suri apart from housing and medical withdrawals.
Norain said the services provided during such outreach sessions were similar to those provided at any EPF branch.
“We are glad to assist. This is our way of serving our members even better,” she added.
Gurdwara Sahib president Arjan Singh thanked Norain and her team for agreeing to hold the programme at the gurdwara.
“We decided to organise the programme as EPF has several good products which some members do not know much about.
“Many, for example, were also surprised that their children can become members at age 14 or can top up their contributions to the fund by up to RM60,000,” he said.
The EPF team also fielded questions from the members during the session which lasted more than two hours.
