E-Paper
State agencies on EPF defaulters’ list
Several government agencies are on the defaulters’ list of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), which highlights their casual attitude towards employees. The amount due is more than Rs 10 lakh. The EPFO is a statutory body under the Union Ministry of Labor and Employment.
Several government agencies are on the defaulters’ list of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), which highlights their casual attitude towards employees. The amount due is more than Rs 10 lakh.
The EPFO is a statutory body under the Union Ministry of Labor and Employment. It also scans the list of employees’ provident fund (EPF) defaulters across the country. Both union and state government departments (besides private firms, from Ludhiana mainly) are on the list for the year 2012-13. The names include Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), Patiala; the Food Corporation of India (FCI) at Ahmadgarh, Baghapurana, Moga, Bhawanigarh, and Dharamkot; Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Patiala; and Markfed at Baghapurana and Chandigarh.
These companies defaulted on crores of rupees and have not paid their employees any EPF. PRTC-Patiala (employment code PN/386) and Markfed-Baghapurana (employment code PN/ 13467) have defaulted on more than Rs 1 crore each; and Markfed-Chandigarh on Rs 57 lakh.
The list has 84 private and government organisations of Punjab on it. One of the major private defaulters, Bawa Shoes of Goindwal, Amritsar, has held back EPF worth about Rs 6 crore.
“When the state and central offices aren’t ready to implement the labour laws, what can you expect of the private companies,” said Badish Jindal, member of the EPFO executive committee, adding: “The major defaulters on the list are government agencies from Punjab.”
BSNL-Patiala has defaulted on more than Rs 4.5 crore. Main private defaulters include Malwa Cotton Spinning Mills, Ludhiana (64 lakh); Oswal Paper and Allied Industries, Jalandhar (47 lakh); and Khalsa College, Amritsar (47 lakh). “The government is not serious about implementing the labour laws, or it would have taken strict action against its defaulting agencies,” said Joint Council of Trade Union general secretary DP Maur.
