Thousands of garment workers angry with the government over changes to their pension funds clashed with police in the information technology hub of Bengaluru yesterday as security forces fired teargas to control the crowds.
Police detained about 100 people after protesters blocked roads and some turned to violence, Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharikh told reporters.
Television footage showed smoke pouring from burnt-out buses and a smashed police vehicle.
“Now the situation is under control,” Megharikh said.
The protests come after the government proposed changes in February to how employees can withdraw savings from the Employee Provident Fund (EPF).
Only about 36mn of the country’s 1.3bn people contribute to the EPF.
In March, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reversed the proposal to tax pension fund withdrawals. But a plan to restrict when employees can withdraw savings from the EPF remains.
However, after the protest in Bengaluru yesterday, government deferred till July 31 its decision to bar PF withdrawals for housing, medical treatment and marriages of children.
Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said the final decision on allowing withdrawal of the employer’s contribution to the fund until the employee attains the age of 58 years will be taken only after July 31.
“The notification that bars withdrawal of PF will be kept in abeyance for three months till July 31, 2016,” he told reporters in New Delhi.
A labour ministry official said the government’s decision to revisit the earlier decision that imposed restrictions on withdrawal of the PF was taken after receiving various representations from trade unions.
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh yesterday said it will continue to protest till all restrictions on PF withdrawal are removed.
A meeting of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation’s Central Board of Trustees would be called to examine all issues related to employers’ contribution towards, sources said, adding that the views of the law ministry would also be sought.
The protests against the restrictions began on Monday in Bengaluru after about 200,000 garment workers, most of them women, took to the streets.
Jayaram K Ramaiah, an official at the Garment and Textile Workers Union, said garment workers earning a monthly salary of Rs6,500 ($98) depended on access to their pensions.
“Not just garment workers, all workers in the unorganised sector will be affected by this rule,” he said. “What about the poor people who use it for important purposes like marriage or education?”
Ramaiah blamed “anti-social elements” for attacking police with stones and said 20 of his members were injured when police charged protesters with batons.
Trade union leaders said the curbs were unnecessary as the quantum involved was just 3.67% of the employer’s contribution.
“It is an unwanted and unnecessary decision. All the trade union representatives on the board of trustees had opposed the move. Even a couple of employers’ representatives were in agreement with our views,” Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) president a A K Padmanabhan said.
According to him, it is a confusion created by the bureaucracy and there is no rationale for restricting the withdrawal.