Govt says no proposal to reduce EPF rates at present

New Delhi, Jul 19 :  The Government today said there is no proposal to further reduce interest rates for contribution to employees provident fund. 'The Government has not taken any further action on reduction of rate of contribution from 12 per cent to 10 per cent,' Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya told the Rajya Sabha while replying to a query during Question Hour. The Minister admitted that all employees' and employers' representatives and State Government representatives were against reducing the interest rate further. Being a huge organisation, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has a total of 9,26,000 subscribers. Asked about protection for workers from layoffs as being faced by employees of the Information Technology sector, Mr Dattatreya said the Government would soon be launching a nationwide enrollment campaign to get more subscribers. UNI