EPFO investment in equity may not fully accept FinMin proposal

Labour Ministry will soon come out with guidelines on new investment pattern for equity and equity related schemes but is unlikely to fully accept the Finance Ministry's proposal in this regard.
"The Finance Ministry have sent some guidelines, so we are examining that. Yesterday there was a discussion in the CBT (Central Board of Trustees) meeting. They were expressing some apprehensions and doubts," Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya told PTI on sidelines of a National Safety Council awards function today.
"We will soon come out with that (guidelines), not exactly what the Finance Ministry is saying, (but) which is suitable to workers' interest. In that perspective we are examining," Dattatreya added.

The Finance Ministry has proposed a new investment pattern for non-government provident fund, asking them to invest a minimum of 5 per cent of their investable funds into equity and equity related schemes.
Investment in equity and related instruments could be up to 15 per cent of total funds, as per the Ministry.
The trade unions have been opposing the proposal to invest a part of retirement fund body EPFO's huge corpus of Rs 6.5 lakh crore in equity markets.

The CBT in its meeting held yesterday discussed the new pattern of investment as notified by the Finance Ministry.
CBT will legally examine the new investment pattern and see if it is binding on them. It will also examine if the present Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1952 provides for a provision to invest in equity or not.

Further the matter will be discussed in the Finance, Investment and Audit Committee (FIAC).
On National Safety Council (NSCI) awards distribution, the minister said there is need to generate more responsibility at factories for working conditions and safety norms.
"More responsibility should be generated. The workers should be trained, awareness and education programme should be held and every factory should maintain working conditions that are environment friendly to workers," Dattatreya said.
The minister also said that an inter-ministerial panel on Child Labour prohibition bill is going to held its first meeting after the ongoing Budget session of the Parliament.
"The inter-ministerial group is going to sit for Child Labour (Prohibition and Rehabilitation) Amendment Bill. In the inter-ministerial group, nine ministers are connected with this. By the end of this session, we are going to meet for the first inter-ministerial group.

"Then it will go to the cabinet and then further it goes to the Parliament," he added.