Why no action in PF scam, ask former Jet employees

Dozens of former international workers of Jet Airways have written to the CBI Union Labour Ministry and other government departments demanding an FIR against the airline executives and the erring staffers of the Employee Provident Fund Office EPFO for allegedly siphoning their PF money They said nothing has been done yetThe exemployees mostly pilots learnt about the alleged fraud after coming across a series of reports by midday in August They had got in touch with this correspondent to share their stories of struggle claiming that they were kept in the dark about PF for yearsSources said PF accounts of Jet pilots with accumulations running into lakhs of rupees were fraudulently settled and the money was taken awayldquoAfter we came to know about the PF we have been fighting to retrieve the money A few among us have passed away but those who are alive are struggling to make ends meetrdquo said an international pilot who worked with Jet Airways for decadesAlso read Multicrore PF scam hits Jet AirwaysAnother international worker said ldquoIt is the Vigilance Awareness Week for EPFO which is celebrating its 70th foundation day on Tuesday with a moto lsquoCorruption free India for a developed Nationrsquo But ironically the officials are not taking any action on our series of complaintsrdquo All the international workers were forced to go back to their countries after Jet Airways ceased operations in April 2019ldquoI cannot come to India and lodge my FIR as I donrsquot have the money to travel Though I have sent multiple emails to the senior officials at EPFO CBI ED Labour Ministry and others no action has been taken so farrdquo said an international worker The former aviation worker said Jet didnrsquot deposit their PF money with the EPFO ldquoAll this has put me and my family in financial lossrdquoDemanding the registration of an FIR he said ldquoHoping for strict action against the company Jet and erring government officials for putting us in financial lossrdquo He said many complaints by him and his former colleagues havenrsquot elicited any response ldquoOur hardearned money must be recovered and deposited in our accountsrdquolsquoStill no legal actionrsquoSources in the EPFO said the department is showing no concern to take any legal action against regional provident fund commissioner RO Kandivli Sudhir Ganvir ldquoThere is massive irregularities in the compliance section of the department and Ganvir should have been removed from the post and transferredhellip but he is a blueeyed boy of many officials in Delhi and Mumbai It is the reason he has been handling Jet Airways files since decades and he has not been transferred out of Mumbairdquo said the sourceldquoAfter a series of midday stories related to the scam EPFO officials have not even formed a committee to check the irregularities in the compliance department Why no enquiry has been conducted so far Above all despite Ganvirrsquos role is in question he has been given additional charge at Kandivli office So one can imagine his clout in EPFOrdquo said the sourceldquoIf there is no PF scam related to Jet Airways employees why the senior officials at EPFO do not come forward and declare that there is no scam as such published in mediardquo the source said Another source said ldquoThere is no transparency in compliance department at EPFO Kandivli Though one clerk Macchindra Bamne has been suspended he is yet to be transferred as per the standing rulerdquolsquoEvidence concealedrsquoA highly placed source at the Central Vigilance Commission Delhi said that all the crucial pieces of evidence were concealed by the corrupt officials EPFO Kandivli ldquoBut after the Central Bureau of Investigation intervened post your midday expose and asked for the documents EPFO shared all the files with the nodal probe agency I am not sure why there is the delay in CBI investigationrdquo said the sourceldquoIdeally Ganvir should have been transferred out of Mumbai for a fair probe into the matter but nothing has been done so farrdquo Harbhajan Singh Sidhu said a member of Central Board of TrusteesldquoIf a person in question is still holding the position chances are high that the crucial pieces of evidence will be destroyed before any legal action is taken in connection with the alleged multicrore PF scam which midday exposedhelliprdquo said another trustee member Ganvir and CPFC Delhi remained unavailable for comment