KATHMANDU, AUGUST 4: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an interim order against the Social Security Fund (SSF), asking the authorities to halt the implementation of the mandatory rule for the employees of the private companies to be listed in the SSF.
A full bench of justices Anil Kumar Sinha, Kumar Chudal and Nahakul Subedi on Tuesday issued the notice after preliminary hearings on a writ petition filed by the trade unions of 22 commercial banks against the SSF for being forced to join the fund. The government body had asked all banks’ staff to join the SSF mandatorily from the new fiscal year 2021/22.
Bankers protest against being ‘forcibly’ taken to SSF
Besides some banks voluntarily involved in the SSF, it has been observed that all the related work for the other banks not willing to join the fund should not be proceeded until the final verdict on the petition is issued, reads the interim order issued by the SC.
Out of 27 commercial banks, the government has exempted the provisions to the workers of three government banks including Agriculture Development Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Nepal Bank Limited whereas Laxmi Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have already been associated with the SSF. The employees of 22 banks have been protesting against the SSF for the past few months.
The state-owned SSF has turned firm on its decision to incorporate employees of private sector companies. But the staff of commercial banks and insurance companies in particular have been demanding the government first amend the Social Security Act 2018 to take them to the SSF.
According to the bankers, if they join the SSF, many of the benefits that they are enjoying at present will be snatched away. They have been demanding the authority first amend the provisions that are ‘unfair’ to the workers to implement the mandatory rules.
