By Franklin Satyapalan
Labour Minister Alavi Moulana yesterday said that he had directed the CID to take action against any officer, irrespective of his position, found involved in the embezzlement of EPF contributions.

Three employees of the EPF section were arrested last week for allegedly defrauding millions of rupees in EPF contributions.

The minister said that he had come to understand that culprits in the department had worked hand in glove with some unscrupulous persons outside to perpetrate this fraud of monies belonging to poor workers. He said that therefore it was not possible to pardon these persons and that this was why he was compelled to ask the CID to investigate.

It has been revealed that money had been obtained fraudulently by submitting bogus claims while ordinary workers had to wait until they reached the age of 55 to withdraw their EPF monies, he said.

Three employees of the EPF section had been suspended from work, he added.

Meanwhile, the Minister had appointed a special unit to go into the details and probe employers who had defaulted contributing over a billion rupees, so that action could be taken against them. He also expressed a desire to propose amendments to the present labour laws to bring such errant employers to justice.

The Minister is also due to initiate discussions with the private sector employers so that he could prepare a cabinet paper to increase their EPF contributions by 3%. This will mean that in future the employer will have to contribute 15% and the employee with a 2% increase contribute 10% from the salary towards the EPF.