PF board's decision 'anti-labour': Jaya

Describing the Employees Provident Fund Board's decision to retain the interest rate at 8.5 per cent as 'anti labour', Alll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo Jayalalithaa demanded on Wednesday that the rate be hiked to 9.5 per cent.

In a statement, she said it was unfortunate that the EPF board decided to retain the interest rate at 8.5 per cent, amidst opposition from the huge work force of the country.

The reduction in the rate has affected over four crore workers, she said, adding the rate was 'unjustified'. Though the officials said that the board had to bear an additional burden of Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) to retain the rate at 8.5 per cent, the shortfall could be managed easily as the board had an income of Rs 590 crore (Rs 5.9 billion)

from other sources, she said.

The board had a surplus of Rs 83 crore (Rs 830 million) during 2006-07 even after paying the interest at 8.5 per cent and had a corpus of Rs 94,000 crore (Rs 940 billion), including the pension fund, she said.

Moreover, the government charged 11 to 12 per cent interest on the PF loans. The banks had also increased the interest rate to 10.5 per cent for their deposits. The EPF decision only exposed the centre's anti-labour stand, she said.