Violent protests prompt centre to pull back new EPF rule

Following unexpected backlash from the trade unions and employees, the centre government on last day dropped the new, controversial, Employment Provident Fund rule. Earlier, in a notification published on February 10, the centre government announced that the employees would not be allowed to withdraw the provident fund before the age of 58. On last day, a violent mob including textile factory employees took the streets of Bangalore city to express their protest and staged extreme violence by torching the public properties. Sources claim that the strong protest across the country prompted the centre government to announce a brief break before the active implementation of the proposal. It is learned that the government has suspended the project for at least the next two months. During this period, the government authorities will convene discussions with labour union representatives for articulating an acceptable formula. Anyway, the central government is expected to announce a new notification with in two month. It is said that the labour department is willing to provide some relaxation in the proposal. Meanwhile, the labour parties claim that most of the factories will not allow the employees to work in their company beyond the age of 50. In such cases, the newly proposed age limit, that is 58 year old, is not feasible, it added. However, experts say that the new proposal was actually a boon for the workers but the government must allow discussions before implementing such a drastic change.

Vignesh

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