About Kerala Pravasi Pension : The Kerala Pravasi Welfare Board is a statutory body established by the Government of Kerala, India, to address the welfare and needs of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs). It provides various benefits, schemes, and support services for Keralites living outside the state or country, including returnees who face challenges upon their return.
Objectives of the Kerala Pravasi Welfare Board:
Welfare of NRKs: To provide social security and financial assistance to expatriates and their families.
Rehabilitation of Returnees: Offering support to NRKs returning to Kerala, helping them reintegrate and find livelihood opportunities.
Emergency Assistance: Assistance during emergencies such as health issues, accidents, or deaths of NRKs abroad.
Pension Scheme: Monthly pension for members who contribute regularly to the welfare fund after reaching a specified age.
Education and Skill Development: Support for the education of children of NRKs and skill development programs for returning expatriates.
Key Schemes and Benefits:
Pension Scheme
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1 – Non Resident Keralites of all categories who remitted contributions to the Welfare Fund continuously up to the age of Sixty are eligible for a monthly pension of Rs. 2000/- (Rupees two thousand only) after the age of sixty. The membership will be cancelled automatically if the monthly contributions are not continuously remitted within a period of one year.
2 – In the case of members, who remitted contributions continuously for more than five years, are eligible to get additional pension equivalent to three percent of the minimum pension prescribed in (i) above, for every completed year of membership over and above the minimum period of five years. However the total pension amount thus received shall not exceed twice the amount of the minimum pension.
Family Pension
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If a member who is eligible for super annuation pension has deceased, any one of his family members (wife, children below the age of twenty one years, insane children, major unmarried daughter, dependent mother, dependent father) shall be eligible for family pension of an amount equivalent to fifty percent of the eligible pension for the deceased member.
Medical Aid: Assistance for members suffering from critical illnesses.
Death Compensation: Support to the family in case of the death of a member abroad or in Kerala.
Rehabilitation Projects: Initiatives to support returnees in starting small businesses or ventures.
Scholarship Programs: Financial aid for the education of children of NRKs.
Membership:
The Welfare Board operates based on a membership system. Any NRK can join by paying a nominal registration fee and contributing regularly to the welfare fund. Membership is open to:
Keralites living abroad for work or business.
Keralites who have returned after working abroad.
Administration:
The Kerala Pravasi Welfare Board functions under the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA), ensuring effective implementation of schemes and policies for NRKs.
This organization plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the Kerala government and its expatriate community, ensuring that their contributions to the state’s economy and culture are recognized and supported.
ABOUT PRAVASI WELFARE
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A large number of people are living outside India. Among them a good percentage belongs to lower or middle income group. This large group of middle-lower income group faces many fundamental problems during their life in the Gulf/other foreign countries and and also when they return to their homeland. The saving habits and rehabilitation facilities available to them are not very promising. Similarly a good percentage of Keralites is living outside Kerala but within India for their being. These Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs-India) are also facing similar circumstances as the NRKs abroad. Realising such circumstances, Kerala State came forward with a unique initiative, first of its kind in the country, to setup a welfare fund to provide welfare schemes to NRKs (abroad) and NRKs (in India). Kerala Non-Resident Keralites Welfare Board came in to existence under the Kerala Non-Resident Keralites’ Wlefare Act, 2008 passed in the Legislative Assembly, Government of Kerala. More than eighty five thousand NRKs are members in the welfare fund. NRKs abroad but now returned to India for permanent settlement after at least two years of foreign employment, can also avail membership in this Welfare Fund. The Act envisages many welfare schemes such as pension schemes, family pension schemes, medical aid, death assistance, etc.