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Journalism of Courage
Under pressure from employees representatives,a key advisory body of retirement fund manager EPFO on Tuesday rejected the finance ministrys proposal to invest 3 to 5 per cent of the Rs 2.57 lakh crore corpus in stock indices. It is now left to EPFOs apex body Central Board of Trustees (CBT) which will meet on December 5 to take a call on the Finance and Investment Committees recommendations to reject the ministry proposal of investing in stock indices.
Facing strong opposition from the employees representatives,the Finance and Investment Committee at its meeting today disagreed over parking 3-5 per cent of retirement fund in stock indices, a source said. Since the issue has been pending for long with FIC,the view of the committee is likely to be placed before CBT for taking the final call on December 5, the source said.
Ahead of the FIC meeting,the employees and employers representatives had discussed the issue,but could not reach a consensus. The two empolyees representatives Bhartiya Mazoor Sangh secretary B N Rai and Hind Mazoor Sabha Secretary A D Nagpal present in the meeting outrightly rejected the proposal.
Under strong opposition from them,the EPFO official decided to place the rejection in record over investment in stock indices before the CBT. It is a general practice that FIC recommendations are accepted by the CBT. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has not invested in stock markets so far.
The EPF Miscellaneous Provision Act,1952,mandates for better returns to employees. Here,better means more than what banks are paying on deposits, FIC member Bhartiya Mazoor Sangh secretary B N Rai said.
