Members of Parliament from the Left parties, AIADMK, Asom Gana Parishad and others have written to the Prime Minister against the Government’s reported move to slash the interest rate on the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) for the year 2011-12.
‘We are shocked that during the last more than a year, the interest rate for banks and financial institutions is continuously being raised several times under the direct intervention of the RBI and the Government to address inflationary concerns, but the same is being denied to over five crore workers," says the letter.
The letter was written in reaction to reports that the Government was considering a cut in EPF rates from 9.5 per cent to 8.25 per cent for 2011-12.
“The PF of workers is a social security fund which is a longest recurring fixed deposit and deserves a much higher rate of interest than the usual FDs with banks and FIs," said the MPs.
With workers already facing price rise, any cut in PF interest rate and that too on their own money kept with the Government is totally unjustified, they added, and urged the Prime Minister to ensure that it is not slashed “under any circumstances”.