A voluntary scheme will be taken up organising camps from January 1 to March 31 to bring workers into the fold of Provident Fund involving trade unions and managements, according to EPFO Central Board trustee Malla Jagadiswara Rao.
At the 215th Central Board meeting in Bangalore recently, trade union representatives urged that minimum pension be fixed at Rs. 5,000, and DA and medical treatment be provided to unorganised workers and simplifying rules for units with 10 workers the PF Act be made applicable.
Mr. Rao, who is national vice-president of BMS, said in a statement the Union Labour Minister had agreed to organise a meeting to discuss the issues.
An interest rate of 8.5 per cent was proposed at the board meeting and it was stiffly opposed by trade unions and the EPFO interest rate was fixed at 8.65 per cent at the instance of BMS, Mr. Rao said.
Mr. Rao said all trade unions opposed the proposal to invest 10 per cent in the stock market. Mr. Rao has been retained as BMS representative in the executive council that takes policy decisions.
Considering the demand for workers’ bank, INTUC leader G. Sanjiva Reddy and Mr. Rao have been appointed members of an expert committee to work out the modalities on the issue.
