Trade Unions demand to increase income tax exemption limit to Rs 10 lakh
New Delhi New Delhi: Trade union leaders in their customary pre-budget meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday suggested a hike in the super-rich tax and corporate tax for social security fund for informal workers. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC) national general secretary S P Tiwari said the government should levy an additional 2 per cent tax on the super-rich for social security fund for informal workers. Tiwari also demanded that agricultural workers should be given social security and their minimum wages should also be fixed.
The trade unions also insisted on increasing the minimum Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) pension from Rs 1000 per month to Rs 5,000 per month. Among other demands, the trade unions demanded immediate constitution of the 8th Pay Commission in the upcoming 2025-26 budget. Pawan Kumar, Organising Secretary (Northern Region) of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, said that the minimum pension under EPS-95 should be increased from Rs 1,000 per month to Rs 5,000 per month as a first step and later it should be linked to variable dearness allowance (VDA).
He also suggested that the income tax exemption limit should be raised to Rs 10 lakh and pension income should be exempted from tax.Kumar also demanded the formation of the 8th Pay Commission to revise the pay structure of government employees. Swadesh Dev Roy, National Secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), also demanded that the 8th Pay Commission should be constituted immediately as more than 10 years have elapsed since the 7th Pay Commission was set up in February 2014.
Dev Roy expressed concern over the decline in the number of permanent employees in central public sector enterprises from 21 lakh in the 1980s to over 8 lakh in 2023-24. Deepak Jaiswal, national president of the National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU), demanded separate budgets for the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) to provide social security benefits to unorganised sector workers. The trade unions also demanded that 12 million domestic workers be given worker status and social security. The budget for 2025-26 will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.
