Mukul Sangma hands over a cheque to a claimant at the inauguration of the computerised sub-regional office of the EPF in Shillong on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos Shillong, Mar 10 : Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma today hinted that employees aided by the government but not covered by any social security scheme would be brought under the Employees Provident Fund scheme.
Inaugurating the computerisation of the sub-regional office of the Employees Provident Fund at Hotel Pinewood here, Sangma said there were several employees who do not have any social security.
Over the years, the government has been appointing several people on contractual basis in various departments. However, these employees do not enjoy any social security.
Saying that “a sense of insecurity is dangerous”, Sangma asked employers to bring their employees under the Employees Provident Fund net to ensure that they benefit from the scheme.
The chief minister said several employers were trying to avoid the Provident Fund.
He, however, stressed on the need to conduct awareness for the benefit of the social security scheme. “Efforts should be made to bring those employers who are reluctant to help their employees avail of the benefits of the scheme,” Sangma said.
The chief minister said social security goes hand-in-hand with democracy and pledged government support to the Employees Provident Fund.
Education minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said education and tourism, two of the largest sectors in the state, were making use of the scheme.
Central Provident Fund commissioner Samirendra Chatterjee said the Shillong office was the 118th from the 120-odd offices of the Employees Provident Fund to be computerised. He said the process of modernising the organisation started eight months back though efforts were on for over a decade. As of date, there are 39,836 employees from 611 establishments in the state who are being covered by the social security scheme.
Timber seized
Meghalaya forest officials yesterday caught hold of four trucks carrying timber and an equal number of trucks carrying charcoal from Umiam and Mawlai worth several lakhs of rupees.
The trucks were apprehended by officials from the Riat Khwan beat reserve forest at about 6.30pm, but the drivers were later released.
A. Nongrum, beat officer of Riat Khwan, said the trucks carrying timber were coming from Umraleng village in Ri Bhoi district and intended to offload the same at Umsamlem. Nongrum said that the four charcoal-laden trucks were coming from different locations like Riangdo in West Khasi Hills and Mawlasnai in Ri Bhoi district. These were on the way to a factory in Ri Bhoi district, he said.