Amidst reports of a cut in interest rate on Employees Provident Fund, Labour Minister Sis Ram Ola on Thursday said he will meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram to decide on the returns for the over 32 million subscribers for this year.

Ola, who is also the Chairman of Central Board of Trustees of Employees Provident Fund Organisation, said that he would take up the matter with the finance minister after a threadbare discussion in the board.

"Workers' rights will be given a cardinal priority. With this in mind, I will meet the finance minister," he said. Refusing to hazard a guess on the interest rates, Ola assured that while taking a decision, the trade unions and employers would be consulted at a tripartite level.

Admitting that any cut in the EPF rate was a 'matter of concern,' he said the ministry would take a comprehensive view so that workers got the maximum returns on their hard-earned money.

The matter assumes significance in the backdrop of demands from the Left trade unions, particularly CITU and AITUC, which have asked for retaining the present 9.5 per cent interest rate if not raising it back to 12 per cent.

The call for a cut in EPF comes in view of low 8.0 per cent interest offered to Special Deposits Scheme, on which the country's largest pension fund house EPFO invests 80 per cent of its funds, thereby necessitating steps to bridge the gap.

"We will explore all options to offset the shortfall," Ola said declining to spell out the measures. Asked what steps would be taken against companies which did not credit their share of PF to employees, he said the defaulting establishments would not be spared.

About the social security scheme initiated by the previous NDA government, he said the biggest challenge before his ministry was to identify the workers in the unorganised sector and carry out a comprehensive survey.

When pointed out that the NDA government had indicated a cess for funding the scheme for the 370 million workers in the unorganised sector, Ola said that the entire gamut of mopping up additional resources would be studied.

He declined to give a timeframe when asked whether the umbrella legislation to protect the unorganised sector would be introduced this year.

On the hire-and-fire policy, which was enshrined in the common minimum programme, he said there would not be automatic retrenchment. Whether the policy would be eligible to special economic zones enjoying liberal labour laws, Ola said the matter would be given a serious thought.

The controversial Industrial Disputes Act would also be studied in detail to ensure there was no wanton lay off of workers without the permission of the government.

Ola said special steps would be taken to generate more employment so that youth could be provided with maximum jobs.