Trade Unions upset over allowing unclaimed PF money to be used for Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund
New Delhi, July 27 (KNN) Neither the Labour Minister nor the Prime Minister have any rights to use money from inoperative accounts under EPFO without the concurrence of the workers because it is workers’ money, said Tapan Sen, General Secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).
Trade unions on Tuesday staged a walkout from Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's Central Board of Trustees Meeting to protest the Finance Ministry's recent notification to use Rs 17,000 crore from inoperative accounts under EPFO to fund welfare of senior citizens.
He explained that the union walked out because the government has given a very “nasty” proposal that they will be appropriating crores of money from the provident fund account for giving old age pension to general people.
“Now giving old age pension is the political responsibility of the government and money in the provident fund is the money in the individual account of the workers. How can they take away that money to discharge this political responsibility?” he asked.
He said “Let them take from the other big companies.”
"Dattatreya asked the Union to withdraw the agenda from the meeting and assured to look into it later," CITU chief said.
The meeting was convened to discuss raising the EPFO's investment in Exchange Traded Funds from the current 5 per cent to 10 per cent.
Sen said that trade unions made it clear that there is no question of looking into the matter. “It is not government’s fund but the workers fund. Without workers concurrent you cannot take out the money,” he said.
According to a Finance Ministry notification on March 18, deposits unclaimed for over seven years in the employees’ provident fund, public provident fund, post office savings accounts, national savings certificates among other small savings schemes would be diverted for setting up a Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund, announced in the Budget.
As per the Finance Ministry, the government office concerned “shall try to contact” every account holder of the unclaimed deposits through written notice, e-mail or telephone at least two times in 60 days before transferring the amount to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund. (KNN Bureau)
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