By Kavita Mistry 
Workers’ representatives have urged the government to provide tax incentives on social security contributions, regularisation of scheme workers, restoration of the old pension scheme and raising entitlement for EPFO pensioners to Rs 9,000 per month.
The demands were raised during a pre-budget meeting of the financial ministry’s top brass on Thursday with trade union representatives.
The memorandum submitted by a forum of ten central trade unions stated that the ceiling limit for the income tax rebate for the salaried class on their salary, the ceiling of EPFO and ESI contribution and entitlement must be substantially raised.
The ceiling on gratuity should be removed, and the pension should not be taxed, they demanded.
The Union Government-sponsored social security fund for the unorganised and agricultural workers has to be set up to provide them with defined universal social security schemes, including a minimum pension of Rs 9,000 per month linked with DA (dearness allowance) and other medical and educational benefits, they suggested.
They also called for resource mobilising by increasing the corporate tax, wealth tax and introducing inheritance tax instead of burdening the common masses with the GST on essential food items and medicine.
Even one per cent inheritance tax on the super-rich can fetch a huge amount to the budget, they pointed out.
It can be used to finance the education, health and other social sectors. Hence, immediately, GST on essential food items and medicine, and medical insurance has to be drastically reduced, they added.
They also demanded that all existing vacancies in the central government departments and PSUs must be filled immediately.
Fixed-term employment should be stopped and replaced by regular employment in all areas, they suggested.
Unions urged that the New Pension Scheme must be scrapped as the truncated Unified Pension Scheme cannot replace the Old Pension Scheme, and the benefits of the defined old pension scheme must be restored.
They also pitched for increasing the entitlement under EPS-95 (Employees’ Pension Scheme-1995) from Rs 1,000 to Rs 9,000 and linking it with DA.
There should be a budgetary allocation for that.
They demanded that the 8th Pay Commission should be constituted immediately, as well as that the pensioners should also continue to be kept under its coverage.