According to TOI report, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has called for an all-India strike on March 28-29 to oppose a proposal by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to pay an interest rate 8.1% for 2021-22.
EPFO has slashed the interest rate on retirement financial savings for its 6.4 crore EPF subscribers from 8.5% to 8.1%. This rate has been lowest ever since 1977-78.
The AITUC contended that the federal government was abdicating its duty to offer social safety to industrial staff and leaving them to the “vagaries of financial markets”.
“No amount of playing around with financial markets will help the crores of toiling people, who are rightfully demanding their share in the national wealth, which they alone produce,” it mentioned.
The trade union said that all employee representatives of the Central Board of Trustees (EPFO) demanded the continuation of the 8.5% interest rate for the year ending March 31, 2022. “The chairman has recommended 8.1 % but the final call will be taken by the finance ministry,” it added.
“Any reduction in interest rate amounts to reducing the protection offered by PF accumulations in old age, a problem faced by all senior citizens who hope to support themselves by interest on their savings,” learn a press release by the AITUC.
The organisation additionally asked the federal government to contribute to social safety funds.
