The Centre reconstituted the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) by excluding representatives of the Opposition trade unions INTUC, AITUC and AIUTUC from the panel. All India Manufacturers Association, an organisation of employers started by legendary engineer M. Visvesvaraya in 1941, also couldn’t find a place in the new panel. Laghu Udyog Bharti, an organisation of employers supported by the RSS, has managed to send two members to the panel, as per the notification released by the Union Labour Ministry on Saturday.
The new panel will get a five-year tenure in the post. Both the employees and the employers have ten representatives each in the panel, apart from representatives of the Union and State Labour departments. Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav is the Chairman of the CBT.
Expressing surprise at the exclusion, INTUC president G. Sanjeeva Reddy said the Centre has done them an injustice. “We represent millions of workers. By excluding us, the Centre has excluded workers,” he said.
