New Delhi: As protests against stringent norms for withdrawal of money from the Employees’ Provident Fund turned violent, with garment workers in Bengaluru setting ablaze public transport and even attacking a police station, a cornered Central government on Tuesday cancelled the notification regarding the tighter rules. The cancellation announcement was made by Union labour and employment minister Bandaru Dattatreya.
Buckling in the face of protests, the government revoked the order tightening rules for withdrawal of PF money within hours of first keeping it in abeyance for three more months.
“The notification issued on 10th February, 2016 is cancelled. Now the old system will continue,” Mr Dattatreya said at a press conference in Hyderabad.
“I will take ratification from CBT (Central Board of Trustees of EPFO),” he said after violence rocked Bengaluru for the second day when garment industry workers torched several buses and attacked a police station while protesting against the tightening of rules.
Giving reasons for the rollback, the minister said, “The reason is the request of trade unions. The earlier decision (to tighten the PF withdrawal norms) was also taken by the opinion of the trade unions.
“Now, when the trade unions are requesting, then we have rolled back the decision,” he added. Earlier in the day in New Delhi, he had said, “The notification will be kept in abeyance for three months till July 31, 2016. We will discuss this issue with the stakeholders.”
Labour ministry refers issue to law ministry
Mr Dattatreya said employees and workers need not have any misconceptions in the wake of the cancellation of the notification. The decision would have barred withdrawal of the employer’s contribution from the PF corpus till the age of 58 years.
In a placatory move, the labour ministry also said it was contemplating permitting withdrawal of all accumulations by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) subscribers on grounds like purchase of house, serious illness, marriage and professional education of children. The matter has been referred to the law ministry for clearance. People had also launched an online campaign against the decision.
