PF trusts of Bengal jute mills to be dismantled, workers linked to EPFO
Contents News/Article Date: 27th December 2022
Relating to which Act: The Employees Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
Applicable to which State: All the establishments in the States with PF coverage
Type: Newspaper report and also according to IANS source
Pertains to: employers and employees and in particular, the jute mills in West Bengal which manage the PF under PF Trust.
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In this instance, in wake of rising complaints against provident fund trustee boards of jute mills in the state regarding non-deposit of employers’ contributions as well as the employees’ contribution deducted, the West Bengal government has decided to dismantle these individual trusts and instead, link employees of the jute mills to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO).
Subject: PF trusts of Bengal jute mills to be dismantled, workers linked to EPFO
For greater details, appended below is the complete news item
PF trusts of Bengal jute mills to be dismantled, workers linked to EPFO
According to an IANS source, running a trustee board requires clearance from the state Labour Minister and an annual audit of the trusts is conducted by the EPFO office. It is learned that in the latest audit, the EPFO office has identified such irregularities in depositing provident fund contributions, and also recommended action against some of these trusts to the state Labour Department.
Kolkata: In wake of rising complaints against provident fund trustee boards of jute mills in the state regarding non-deposit of employers’ contribution as well as the employees’ contribution deducted, the West Bengal government has decided to dismantle these individual trusts and instead, link employees of the jute mills to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
State Labour Minister, Moloy Ghatak announced this to representatives of jute mill owners and the different trade unions operating in the sector at a recent tripartite meeting on this count.
Sources aware of the proceedings of the meeting said that Ghatak pointed out that the employees of just a few jute mills in the state are directly linked to the EPFO office and the majority have their own trustee boards running the show.
“The minister also observed that recently, complaints have piled up against several such trustee boards of not depositing the amounts accrued on account of employers’ contribution as well as the employee’s contribution although the latter had been deducted from their salaries,” a source said.
According to the source, running a trustee board requires clearance from the state Labour Minister and an annual audit of the trusts is conducted by the EPFO office. It is learned that in the latest audit, the EPFO office has identified such irregularities in depositing provident fund contributions, and also recommended action against some of these trusts to the state Labour Department.
Following this development, the Department has taken an in-principle decision not to allow any such trust in the jute mills of the state to continue. In future too, no fresh permission for such trusts would be given.