Religious institutions should donate funds to govt: FICO's textile head

Minna Zutshi
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, April 2

The textile division head of the Federation of the Industrial and Commercial Organization (FICO) has appealed to religious institutions to voluntarily offer a major chunk of their funds to the government amid the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter written to PM to suggest measures to help the MSMEs prepare for the long-term, the textile division head Ajit Lakra, said, “The Government should come out with an ordinance to acquire these funds to comfortably save the nation from this pandemic of COVID-19. If the people and the country will survive, they will again donate enough money to these religious institutions. This kind of money is always donated for the wellbeing of humanity. This is the most critical time.”

Another suggestion is that the unclaimed fund with the EPFO Department can be used during this unprecedented situation. “The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) Department has approx. Rs 40,000 crore lying unclaimed with them. This is the most critical time when the employees and employers should be helped through this fund. The government should waive off the collection of PF contribution of all the employees and employers for three months and compensate the employees with this unclaimed fund. This will not make any major dent on Social Security. In any case. the Security is for rainy days and that's just what the present times are. Moreover, what is the point of putting so much burden on employers that they themselves collapse and insecurity of jobs arises,” he added.