PHAGWARA: In an alarming turn of events, JCT workers affected by the fraudulent activities surrounding the closure of a company in Phagwara have come forward with serious allegations against JCT officials and EPFO and staged dharna before JCT here today.
They alleged that despite multiple audits of the company’s Provident Fund (PF) Trust, RPFO has failed to take any significant action since December 2022, allowing corruption and mismanagement to continue unchecked.
Workers claim that RPFO has been negligent in its responsibility to protect the rights of employees. Every three months, RPFO auditors visited the company for inspections, yet no action was taken against the fraudulent activities occurring under the company's management.
The workers have accused RPFO of being the primary enabler of the ongoing PF scam, citing the office as the most corrupt in the region. The authorities are now offering to pay only the amounts reflected in the challans, ignoring the large sums of money that were unlawfully deducted from employees' salaries and wages—funds that the RPFO was supposed to safeguard.
The workers are now demanding full and final settlement of their Provident Fund (PF) and Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) from the PF Trust, as there is sufficient money available to clear all dues. They have further called for RPFO Jalandhar to take the necessary legal action against company trustees, including Samir Thapar, Mukulika, and other individuals responsible for the mishandling of the funds.
Moreover, workers allege that some company officialshave illicitly taken their PF, depriving employees of their rightful claims. The workers have called out the corruption of the company’s management for violating workers' rights.
Despite several written agreements made in the presence of state authorities, including the Labour Department, SDM, ADC, and SP Pagwara there has been little to no progress toward justice. The state administration in Kapurthala and Phagwara, along with the Labour Department and the Department of Factories, have been accused of inaction, leaving thousands of workers without compensation or resolution.
Former JCT Employee Ashwini Thapar has alleged that the police have reluctantly registered FIRs against Samir and Mukulika, but no significant effort has been made to arrest them, leaving many to question the integrity of the investigation. The workers are demanding answers: when will Samir and Mukulika be arrested? Why are they still free despite five FIRs being filed against them?
In light of these ongoing issues, workers are urging Punjab Chief Minister to take immediate action. While the state government is focused on bringing in new industries and creating jobs, thousands of workers are left jobless due to the illegal closure of two companies. The workers have called for swift intervention to ensure justice is served and that those responsible for this egregious fraud are held accountable.
When contacted Regional Provident Funds Commissioner Pankaj Kumar told this correspondent here today that EPFO Regional Office Jalandhar has taken exemplary steps against JCT in the interest of employees.
He said as soon as it was discovered that contribution from October 2022 onwards was deducted from the employee’s salary but not deposited to the trust, entire amount was assessed and subsequently bank account of the establishment has been frozen.
Many letters were written to the Police authorities to lodge FIR against the owners of the establishment and RPFC moved before the honourable court to lodge FIR against them after which FIR against erstwhile IPC 406 and 409 has been lodged against the owners.
Even for the period of 2023-24, in absence of records like audited balance sheet as it was not made available by JCT on account of it not being prepared, nonetheless, all dues have been assessed for the period of 2023-24 on the basis of available records.
PF Commissioner Pankaj Kumar said that all these assessments totalling an amount of Rs. 13 crores approximately have been made by conducting daily hearings. Assessment orders have been issued in record time which usually take considerable time. Even penalty and interest for the period of 2023-24 has been issued by assuming the calculations based on a notional date if it were deposited by the establishment on that date.
The EPF department only receives contributions for Pension and not the provident fund of the employees. The establishment maintains a Trust for the provident fund of the employees for which it has received order of exemption from the Central Government. No grievances are there for the settlement of claims of Pension.
The EPFO would be able to settle the claims of the provident fund of the employees only when the exemption status of the establishment is cancelled and the Trust is taken over by it and the money lying in the Trust is remitted to the Central Board of Trustess (CBT, )EPFO. Cancellation for the exemption status of the establishment is already proposed and forwarded to the Head Office . When the proposal is approved by the CBT, EPFO, it would be sent to the Central Government .
He said that RPF office has taken a pro active stand here as well and has tried to convince the Board of Trustees to voluntarily surrender the Trust as it will enable the department to take over the trust quickly. In this regard, meetings have been conducted and they have been made aware of the entire process.