Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) National Secretary S. Durairaj on Friday asked the Centre to revoke its decision on steep reduction of Employees Provident Fund interest rate maintaining that the moves amounted to virtually deceiving lakhs of employees who consider the PF accumulation as sole means of hope for a secured future.
“The recent decision of the Congress led UPA government to reduce the Employees Provident Fund interest rate from 9.50 per cent to 8 per cent amounted to deceiving the lakhs of workers who regard the PF accumulation as a means to have a secured future”, he said.
The workers will not allow the government to implement its decision at any cost, Mr. Durairaj said here on Friday.
Mr. Durairaj was addressing a largely attended public meeting organised as part of the three-day BMS state meeting at the Speedway Inn grounds near the new bus station here.
Apparently referring to the huge irregularities involved in the 2G Spectrum allocation, which reported to have caused the Centre crores of rupees favouring corporate business houses, he said it was extremely unfortunate that the government had not set up any special corpus for the welfare of the employees.
The government had failed to have assessed the sentiments of workers by remaining indifferent to host of demands raised by the employees despite the February 28 nationwide strike by the workers to oppose the Centre’s anti-people action, he remarked.
The BMS would spearhead intensified agitation if the Centre failed to revert from its anti-people and anti-workers stand, he warned.
Addressing the gathering, BMS State President M. P. Bhargavan accused major political parties of using their labour wing to gain political mileage while the BMS, which has support base from various sections of the society was actually working for the cause and well being of the workers in the country.
Referring to the huge unaccounted deposit lying in foreign banks, he said the amount, if managed to bring back to the country, could be utilised for the all round development of the nation and the welfare of the people.
The neo-liberal economic policies being pursued by the Manmohan Singh Government could not result in improving the living standards of the common man, much against the claim of the ruling coalition at the Centre.
BMS State Secretary K. K. Vijaya Kumar, BMS national leaders including B. Sunder, among others, addressed the meeting.
Earlier in the day hundreds of activists of the district unit of the BMS took out a colourful rally which commenced from Thalipadappu grounds and culminated at the venue where the public meeting was held.
