Bengaluru protest against new PF rules turns violent, forces govt to revoke

In a spurt of violence, garment workers, protesting the new Provident Fund rules, set afire several vehicles and attacked a police station in Bengaluru on Tuesday, forcing the government to revoke the amendment.

The spontaneous stir, with no trade union leading it, spun out of control on the second day as protesters went on rampage pelting stones at Hebbagodi police station and torching seized vehicles parked there. Thousands of workers took to the streets at different places in the city, particularly Hebbagodi near Electronics City, an IT hub. Police said they had to resort to lathicharge and fire teargas shells to disperse violent protesters.

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Additional Commissioner of Police (East-Bengaluru City) Harishekaran, who visited the spot, said police have rounded up about 25 persons in connection with the incident. Officials said about 25 policemen, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police, suffered injuries in the violence and they are undergoing treatment at a hospital.

At least two Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses and one of Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation have been set on fire, they said. The agitation began on Monday when police resorted to "mild" lathicharge to control a "mob" of garment workers who pelted stones, injuring four police personnel.

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Workers opposing amendment to Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act have expressed fear that the new rule would take away their right over the employer's contribution of provident fund till they attain 58 years. Buckling under protests, government today revoked the order tightening rules for withdrawal of provident fund money, hours after deciding to keep it in abeyance for three more months.

"The notification issued on 10th February, 2016 is cancelled. Now the old system will continue," Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya told a press conference in Hyderabad.

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Earlier in the day in New Delhi, the Minister had said, "The notification (tightening PF withdrawal norms) will be kept in abeyance for three months till July 31, 2016. We will discuss this issue with the stakeholders."

Traffic gridlocks were reported at various entry and exit points in the city like Hosur Road, which leads to Electronics City and Tumkur Road, which has a large concentration of garment units. There are approximately over 12 lakh garment factory workers in Bengaluru, according to Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharik.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said police showed "utmost" restraint during the protest and they fired in the air in self defence.

"...this has started all of a sudden yesterday. Even though our intelligence wing had given us information about this, we did not expect it to happen at this scale. As large numbers of protesters were women, we could not quell the protest in any way," he said.

"(Police) Department has shown utmost restraint or else many would have been injured. Even though the situation called for firing, they did not go for it; they instead fired four to five rounds of bullets in the air in self defence," he said.

Parameshwara also warned of strict action against those posing threat to public safety and causing damage to public property, saying, "If police start taking strict action, it will cause problems to many people."

52 platoons of police have been deployed in the city. An 18 year-old college student was injured by a pellet in the violence. "She is out of danger. She has got a small pellet in the thigh... it has to be taken out, it needs a small surgery. She will be all right," doctors treating the girl at a private hospital said.