The Centre is contemplating permitting withdrawal of all accumulations in an emergency
The Centre is contemplating permitting withdrawal of all accumulations in an emergency
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.”
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.”
He said employees and workers need not have any misconceptions in the wake of the cancellation. 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 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, which was to be implemented from February 10 but was later put on hold till April 30.
Meanwhile, protesters pelted stones at Hebbagodi police station in Bengaluru and torched seized vehicles parked there as the spontaneous agitation, with no trade union leading it, spun out of control. Police said they had to resort to lathicharge and fire teargas shells to disperse violent protesters. At least two Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses and one of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation have been set on fire, they said.
Incidents of buses and other vehicles being pelted with stones were reported from different parts of the city, such as Bannerghatta and Jalahalli cross, as also near Electronics City, the IT hub.
Traffic jams were reported at various entry and exit points in the city, like Hosur Road which leads to Electronics City, and Tumkur Road, which has a large concentration of garment units.
In a bid to assure the agitating workers, Union minister Ananth Kumar, MP from Bengaluru, said the right of unorganised and garment workers would be restored and appealed to them to withdraw their protest.
Bengaluru police commissioner N.S. Megharikh said the situation was under control, but there “are some issues” on the city’s outskirts. “...We are at work, our officers are at the spot, reinforcement has already gone there. The situation is being brought under control,” he said.
The police said other workers too had joined the garment workers in the protest on Tuesday. There are over 12 lakh garment factory workers in Bengaluru, the city police chief said.
