Congress MP Manickam Tagore

NEW DELHI: Opposition Wednesday slammed the changes in the rules for withdrawal of money from EPFO, calling them “cruelty” as “the pensioners and job losers will now be punished for needing their own savings”. Congress MP Manickam Tagore and TMC MP Saket Gokhale demanded that government scrap the changes without delay.Tagore and Gokhale focused on the changes that state that Provident Fund money can be withdrawn only after 12 months of unemployment, and pension can be withdrawn only after 36 months. The period for withdrawal for both the categories was two months till now.Tagore said, “Besides the withdrawal norms, 25% of your own EPF will be locked forever. Who benefits from this, PM Modi? Certainly not the workers. Imagine a worker who loses his job or a retiree waiting for years to access his hard-earned savings — while government writes off lakhs of crores for its crony friends. This is not reform, this is robbery.” He urged PM Narendra Modi “to not let bureaucratic cruelty destroy the dignity of India’s working class.”Gokhale said, “It is clear that the Modi govt is expecting a drastic rise in unemployment due to its terrible economic policies. These new rules locking people’s EPF are the signs of a panicked govt trying to prevent a run on the EPFO. Salaried people are being punished for government’s mishandling of the economy.”