"Let the Prime Minister come back (from abroad). May be, I will meet him on Thursday itself," he said on the sidelines of a conference of regional provident fund commissioners.
Rao said that as the chairman of the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees Provident Fund, he had announced lowering of the interest rate by one per cent to 8.5 per cent as recommended by the Board.
"But, I am yet to announce a final decision as the Labour Minister. As Labour Minister, I will try my best," he said when asked if he would try to get the rate enhanced.
Rao said he would also talk to the Finance Minister and do everything possible to ensure that four crore subscribers got the best return. Every rupee in the EPF will be taken into account and if needed some rules might have to be changed, he said when asked about ways to mobilise additional resources.
The Prime Minister had recently said that he would talk to the Labour Minister on the issue and do whatever was possible within the resources of the EPFO.
Singh had recently ruled out any budgetary support to retain EPF interest rate at 9.5 per cent as demanded by trade unions and some political parties, including Left parties supporting the UPA from outside.
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