The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday demanded that the interest rates on Employees' Provident fund contributions be raised to 9.5 per cent to make them commensurate with the rise in bank interest rates.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the United Progressive Alliance government was being unfair to EPF contributors, as the government had put a cap of 12 per cent on interests when the rates were actually 16 per cent in the market.

"Now that the deposit and lending rates in banks are going up, is it not fair that to freeze the EPF rates at 8.5 per cent," said Javadekar.

He also demanded that the accounts pertaining to EPF funds be made public so that the contributors knew how and where the government had invested the money.

"We want accounts of the last 10 years to be made public so that the people know just where their money has gone and why the government has not been able to take any decision on the matter in the last three years," he said.

On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's comments that the corporates show some social responsibility, Javadekar said it seemed the PM was replying to charges made by Mani Shankar Aiyar rather than addressing the corporates.