Report No. 137

Chapter III

Magnitude of the Problem-Need for Creation of a Statutory Ombudsman

3.1. Material regarding plight of suffering employees gathered.-

In order to carry out post-audit of this Act and the Scheme framed thereunder, the same being a benevolent socio-economic legislation, the Commission issued a press release on December 20, 1988 [Appendix E] inviting all concerned who had not received the provident fund and retiremental dues for more than one year to furnish relevant particulars in order to apprise the Commission of their plight.

The material gathered by the Commission on the basis of complaints received in response to the press note issued by it reveals that a lementable state of affairs prevails in the sphere of disbursement of provident fund accumulations, etc. Out of a total of 481 complaints received by the Commission, 139 cases were resolved within approximately three months of the matter being taken up by the Commission with the concerned authorities. On an analysis of the data relating to these cases where delay was apparently unjustified, an extremely unaesthetic picture emerges:-

Extent of delay involved	Number of cases
Maximum 21 years, Minimum 10 years	7
Maximum 10 years, Minimum 6 years	25
Maximum 6 years, Minimum 4 years	15
Maximum 4 years, Minimum 2 years	32
Less than 2 years	60
Total	139

(Full details pertaining to these 139 cases are embodied in Appendix F.)