Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) organised a demonstration at Jantar-Mantar, New Delhi on August 1 to protest the appointment of private fund managers to manage the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). Addressing the gathering, BMS president Shri Girish Awasthi said till now the fund was managed by the State Bank of India, but the Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, in spite of repeated protest from Central Trade Unions, took the decision to appoint ICICI Bank, HSBC Bank and Reliance AMC. By sanctioning Rs 30,000 crore from EPFO funds, the Minister did injustice to millions of workers of the country. This action clearly indicates that the Government wants to encourage millionaires. BMS representatives in the CBT-EPFO, Shri Girish Awasthi and Shri M.P. Patwardhan, had vehemently opposed the move of the Government during the course of CBT meeting. Shri Awasthi added that protest would be lodged against this undemocratic decision of the Government at each and every office of EPFO situated in different parts of the country. Former organising secretary of BMS Shri O.P. Aghi, former vice president Shri R.P. Mishra, vice president Shri Ramdaur Singh and secretary Shri N.M. Sukumaran also addressed the gathering. Later a memorandum was presented to Union Labour Minister urging him to reconsider the issue and explore the possibilities for investing EPFO funds only with Government companies or nationalised banks instead of private fund managers.
(FOC)
