PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, May 31: The non-gazetted employees of the state’s lone medical college, RIMS staged a protest at the director’s office, demanding an end to illegal EPF deductions and adjustments for contract and daily wage workers who have worked at RIMS for the previous ten years.
Apart from that, non-gazetted RIMS employees claim that illicit EPF deductions continue despite the health minister’s orders. Even though the minister requested it, the ECR report has yet to be submitted.
On the occasion of International Nursing Day, Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta ordered an immediate halt to EPF deductions. On Tuesday, all of the employees gathered at the superintendent’s office before staging a demonstration at the director’s office in the RIMS administrative building. During this time, all non-gazetted personnel’s work came to a standstill.
According to Rani Khalkho, president of the Non-Gazetted Employees Federation, hundreds of employees at RIMS had their EPF deducted while also having money deducted for NPS contributions.
“We are calling the EPF deduction illegal because they are already deducting money under the NPS (New Pension Scheme) and both cannot be deducted at the same time. The EPF of RIMS personnel is being deducted illegally for almost four years. Despite repeated requests and correspondence, the deduction is not being stopped,” Rani said.
“There are more than 100 employees who have been working for the past 15 to 20 years and they must be adjusted in the vacancies created by RIMS. After five months, no major action has been taken by the RIMS management to adjust those workers,” Rani further said.
