New Delhi: The government's decision to cut the employee provident rate from 9.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent for the year 2005-06, created a furore in the Parliament on Thursday.
Protesting against the Centre's decision, members of the Left, NCP, RJD and the Opposition demanded immediate restoration of 9.5 per cent rate.
They said it would hit hard on the four crore strong organised labour. Following the uproar, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee adjourned the House till 1400 (IST) hours.
Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour, CPI(M) member Dipankar Mukerjee said his party was giving a "friendly warning" to the government not to throttle the interests of the workers, especially when there was no social safety net in the country.
Members of the Left, BJP, TDP, AIADMK and Samajwadi Party supported him.
CPI member Gurudas Dasgupta said, "the present government may kindly understand that trade unions and Left parties will no longer be a stamping machine of the government".
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachouri assured the members that UPA would not go against the interests of the workers.
He said he would discuss the issue with the PM and Labour Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao.
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