Angered by the Finance Ministry’s “unilateral” move to ignore the EPF trustees who recommended a higher interest rate on PF deposits for 2015-16, central trade unions, barring the RSS-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), on Tuesday said they would hold country-wide protests on April 29.
BMS, which has also opposed the decision, has decided to hold protests separately on April 27.
On Monday, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya had informed Parliament that the Finance Ministry had ratified an interest rate of 8.7 per cent, against 8.8 recommended by the tripartite Central Board of Trustees of retirement fund body, Employees Provident Fund Organisation.
Denouncing the move, a statement by 10 unions, including Congress-backed Indian National Trade Union Congress, Left-backed Centre of Indian Trade Unions, All-India Trade Union Congress, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, Self-Employed Women’s Organisation, accused the Finance Ministry of “imposing” its decision on crores of workers without consulting CBT.
In the February 16 meeting, the trustees had “unanimously decided on 8.8 per cent as an interim measure with an indication of increasing it further in view of availability of funds generated by EPF”, the statement read.