Friday, December 9 2005 16:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Warning the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition of an 'imminent confrontation' over the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) issue, Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) today (Dec 09, 2005) said the government should heed to the demand supported by all parties in Parliament to restore 9.5 per cent interest rate on EPF.

"If the Government does not de-link the social security instruments from market principles, a battle, a confrontation is imminent," CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu told reporters here.

To several questions on how the Left would confront the government on the issue, he said "we will decide when the time comes. All trade unions and the Left parties have voiced their protest over reduction in PF interest rate to 8.5 per cent. All other parties supported the demand in Parliament".

He said Provident Fund was one of the only social security instruments for the working class available in the country and "to treat this instrument on market principles cannot and will not be acceptable to the trade unions and the Left parties".

"We warn the government that this approach is not acceptable", Basu and Basudeb Acharia said.

Observing that the erstwhile National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime had reduced the rate from 12 to 9.5 per cent, the CPI(M) leaders said the government was pursuing the same economic strategy to reduce the rate further to 8.5.

"Even when all parties were demanding restoring 9.5 per cent interest on EPF, the BJP tried to divert it and raised the Volcker issue. This completely betrayed the sham nature of concern of the NDA about problems facing the people and the working class", they said.

Acharia pointed out that the deficit incurred in raising the interest rate to 9.5 per cent would be only Rs 750 crore and would benefit four crore workers across the country. "How much did the government lose when it reduced the tax on share market or when it gave tax concessions to Dabhol," he asked.

He said the government would also shell out about Rs 700 crore to corporatise the Security Press and Mints without any gain or modernisation.

On the Volcker issue, Basu said the BJP had "time and again proved that they are not interested in a serious debate on any of the people's issue.

"Their demand for a joint parliamentary probe parallel to the Justice Pathak Inquiry Authority is not consonant with the principle of natural justice as the same issue cannot be inquired into by the judiciary and the legislature," he said.

Basu and Acharia said they would also seek introduction of a central legislation to provide social security to unorganised workers in the ongoing session of Parliament and the Left parties would hold a mass rally here tomorrow to press for the demand.