Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 3: Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal, which represents traders and retails, has urged the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment to defer and suspend applicability of Section 1(5) of Provident Fund and Misc Provision Act 1952 for two years to provide relief to small traders whose staff strength has reduced from the prescribed limit.
“Continued lockdown and stalled economic activities have led traders, retailers and small businesses to shrink the activities and to curtail expenditures to survive post pandemic slow down. In such a situation most of staff of these traders and retailers had left and minimum strength which is prescribed for applicability of provision of PF fell from 20 and more to just 5-10,” said Sanjay Bansal, President – J&K FAIVM, in a letter to Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union MoS for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge).
As per provision of Section 1(5) of Provident Fund and Misc Provision Act 1952, if any establishment gets itself registered with PF authorities upon reaching staff strength 20, it cannot surrender its PF registration subsequent even staff strength falls from 20 i.e., the minimum staff strength for applicability of Provident Fund.
In the letter, FAIVM has mentioned that after new normal when staff strength is reduced to even below 10, it has become difficult to follow various compliances of provisions of Provident Fund and Misc. Provision Act 1952.
Meanwhile, V K Bansal, National General Secretary FAIVM, said in a statement that it has become very difficult to comply with provisions of various Labour Laws and instead traders and small businesses are preferring to close their setups. This has worsened employment situation as main sufferer are uneducated youths from villages and semi urban.
Jayendra Tanna, National President, FAIVM, said that Government has given various concessions and incentives to Corporate and Industries, even Government is willing to pay contribution of employer in PF within certain circumstances, but traders are deprived with such benefits. “That is why instead of continuing their operations they are willing to close business as such to avoid lengthy and tedious compliances of various laws.
Copy of the letter has been sent to Prime Minister, Nitin Gadkari (Union Minister of MSME), Piyush Goyal (Union Minister of Industry and Commerce) and Amitabh Kant (Chief Executive Officer, Niti Aayog).
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