The Central government should support workers and employees with ₹7,500 a month as solatium rather than allowing drawal of an advance from the Provident Fund, according to former MLA and AITUC State secretary M. Arumugam.
Mr. Arumugam said in a press release that the Central government introduced a special scheme last year to draw an advance from the Provident Fund. “This act of drawing money from the Provident Fund of employees’ savings for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana is nothing but defeating the very basic principle of Provident Fund Scheme,” he said.
The Central trade unions had demanded that the government safeguard the families of employees during the pandemic period by granting a solatium of ₹7,500 a month. Now, the government, instead of saving the employees from the pandemic and lockdown is making the situation worse through the scheme. Provident Fund is a life-long saving by a worker or employee with contribution from the employer that can be used after retirement. By taking an advance from that amount, the worker or employee is losing his saving.
Hence, the government should extend a solatium of ₹7,500 a month from March last year to employees, he said.
