As the finance ministry prepares for the Budget next month, central trade union leaders would meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday to push for a people-oriented Budget which would address issues of poverty, unemployment and social infrastructure.
The leaders said they would ask Mukherjee to enhance the interest rate of employees' provident fund (EPF), considering the high inflation, and bring down the threshold limit of 20 employees in the EPF scheme to 10 as was recommended by the Central Board of Trustees of EPF.
They also want the government to strengthen the public sector undertakings (PSUs), stop disinvestment of their shares and to use their reserves be used/ delete for rehabilitation of sick Central Public Sector Undertakings.
Trade unions are expected to advise the ministry that the PSUs be allowed to have more access to debt market of banks and foreign investments, instead of resource mobilisation in equity market through disinvestment.
On taxation, the unions want the government to impose a windfall tax on petroleum products exported from standalone refineries to curb windfall profits by companies. Other than this, they want that a progressive taxation system be put in place to ensure taxing the rich, which have the capacity to pay at a higher level. Since most of the strikes last year were focused around the issue of contract labour, the trade unions want that contractorisation of labour be abolished and until that happens, payment of wages and benefits to such workers be at par with those of regular workers.