Tweaking of EPF pension clauses will help cashew workers: MP

Thiruvananthapuram: Welcoming the Union government’s notification amending the commutation clauses with regard to employees’ provident fund (EPF) pension scheme, MP N K Premachandran said that the notification would be beneficial to cashew workers in the state.
The MP from Kollam had been raising his voice in the Parliament against ‘inhumane attitude’ of the EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation), which had been effecting a monthly cut on the pension in the name of commutation, ‘never restoring the reduced pension and continuing it for life’.
“Payment of full pension to pensioners after realization of full amount of commuted pension was a major demand in the private members’ resolution I presented in the 16th Lok Sabha,” Premachandran said in a statement. The workers had not been receiving even the minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 due to EPFO’s anti-workers’ policy, wherein it had been deducting from pension even after recovering manifold the amount the PF pensioners and subscribers received under commutation, he said.
As per government’s assurance (on the resolution) in December 2015, a high-level empowered monitoring committee was formed to review and revamp the employees’ pension scheme of 1995 and to consider other issues including pension enhancement. However, the MP had to raise the issue in the Parliament as there was delay in issuing notification.
Another major issue is the earlier amendment of 10 years of continuous service as 10 years of continuous contributory service, ‘which had ousted 90% of the cashew workers from the pension scheme, as they needed attendance of 3,650 days to be entitled to pension’, the MP said.
Now, with the amendment (reverting to 10 years of continuous service), pension of thousands of cashew workers has been restored, he said.