The Labour Standing Committee of Parliament discussed the implementation of the Employees Provident Fund Scheme in its meeting on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Committee Chairman Bhartruhari Mahtab and was attended by MPs Elamaram Kareem (CPM), M. Shanmugham (DMK), Dean Kuriakose (Congress) and other members. Union Labour Secretary Apurva Chandra and EPF Commissioner Sunil Barthwal represented government and EPFO.
The Commissioner explained the functioning of the Provident Fund Scheme. He opined that the maximum salary cap applicable to the scheme should be changed from the present Rs 15,000 per month. He also said that the minimum pension for retired workers is a very small amount. Earlier, an expert committee appointed by the EPFO had recommended raising the minimum monthly pension to Rs 2,000. Parliamentary committee headed by Bhagat Singh Koshyari had also recommended for raising the minimum pension to Rs 3,000. None of these recommendations were implemented. This is because the central government did not allow the amount to be raised to increase the minimum pension.
CPI(M) floor leader in Rajya Sabha Elamaram Kareem asked the representatives of government and EPFO to explain the impact of Social Security Code passed by the Parliament on the provident fund scheme. Did the Central Government hold discussions with the PF authorities before enacting the new code? Under the new code, the monthly contribution of employers and workers in PF has been reduced from 12 per cent of salary to 10 per cent. How will this affect the functioning of the fund? What is the role of the Board of Trustees (Tripartite) Committee constituted under the old Provident Fund Act? Kareem asked the officials. He also pointed out that the government makes many decisions without consulting the Board of Trustees.
The Provident Fund Organization and the Central Government have filed appeal in the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court's decision to pay higher pensions to those who pay higher amounts. The appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court. Revision petition has been filed again.
The amount invested in the Provident Fund is Rs 13.7 lakh crore in 2019-20. A portion of this amount has been invested in various private schemes. MPs asked what is the current status of these investments. The Chairman directed the PF Commissioner to provide a written explanation of investments other than in government bonds. Also, the EPFO has an unclaimed amount of Rs 42,000 crore for years. MPs opined that this amount could be used to raise the minimum pension.
Committee Chairman directed the Commissioner to give a written explanation for each of the issues raised by the MPs. Committee generally suggested that the Provident Fund scheme should be extended to workers in the unorganized sector and also include scheme workers and self-employed persons.
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