NO CUT IN EPF INTEREST RATE, SAYS LABOUR
MINISTER
CBT APPROVES MULTI-BENEFIT
EMPLOYEES INSURANCE SCHEME
The Labour Minister Dr. Sahib Singh has said
that there will be no cut in the present rate of interest of 9.5%
on deposits of Employees Provident Fund beneficiaries. Speaking
to media persons at the end of a meeting of the Central Board
of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund here today,
the Labour Minister said that if necessary, the Cabinet would
be approached to seek approval for continuing the current interest
rate. The issue, however, did not figure in today’s meeting of
the CBT which, at its special meeting on April 12, 2002, had urged
the Finance Ministry to reconsider its decision and allow the
Fund to pay 9.5% to its subscribers for the current financial
year. It had said that after paying 9.5% rate of interest to the
subscribers the Fund would be left with a surplus of about 147
crore rupees.
Dr. Sahib Singh said that the CBT at today’s
meeting gave a go ahead to necessary amendments to the Employees
Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. These
include a proposal to introduce a Multi-benefit Employees Insurance
Scheme by the EPFO so that its beneficiaries who would lost their
jobs as a result of the ongoing economic restructuring can get
half of the last wage per month for one year as employment insurance.
Dr. Sahib Singh said that the proposed Scheme envisages a small
contribution of 1.25% by the employer and 0.5% by the employees
during his tenure of employment. He said that the Finance Ministry
has approved the Scheme but has expressed its inability to make
envisaged contribution of at least 0.25% of the employees wage.
The CBT also gave its approval to several other proposed amendments
to the Act in lieu of the mobility of workforce from formal to
informal sector due to the increase in the outsourcing of work.
These include policy changes for increase in coverage, strengthening
the dispute resolution mechanism, and to regulate the exempted
Trusts. The CBT, however, entrusted the Labour Minister to take
a decision on reducing the threshold limit for EPF coverage and
deleting provisions in the Act relating to definition of ‘Industry".
The CBT also approved the Report on the Business
Process Re-engineering which stipulates new procedures and processes
for maintaining accounts and meeting more efficiently programme
delivery obligations through the application of Information technology.
The labour Minister said that it would be first introduced in
Delhi and six other big cities for which the EPFO has earmarked
Rs. 6.75 crore. Dr. Sahib Singh said that 8,000 staff members
have been trained in the new methodology. He said nobody in the
EPFO would lose his job following application of IT as the Organisation
would be expanding its operations.
Earlier inaugurating the meeting the Chairman
of the CBT Dr. Sahib Singh said that the EPFO had an improved
performance of about 50 % and enrolled 27.43 lakh members during
the last financial year. He said that 49.84 lakh claims have settled.
Recovery of PF in default amounted to Rs.2,281.85 crore during
the last 30 months as compared to Rs.778.50 crore recovered during
the last 9 years from 1990.
The meeting was besides the CBT Members attended
by the Minister of State for Labour, Shri Ashok Pradhan, the Labour
Secretary Dr. P.D.Shenoy and the Central Provident Fund Commissioner
Shri Ajay Singh .
