The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) recovered Rs 18 lakh from the bank account of Kamala Nehru Women's College, located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on Sunday, April 16. The action was taken following allegations that the college had not submitted the EPF money of several faculty members and staff for the last 12 years.

Sources from EPFO alleged the college principal then had abruptly stopped EPF deposits in 2010. The college authorities did not deposit the funds despite the direction of the then Higher Education Secretary Madhusudan Padhi, as per a report by The New Indian Express.

In 2012, when the EPF authorities tried to recover the money, the then principal filed a petition in the High Court and managed to obtain a stay on the EPF action. The sources further alleged that so as not to pay the EPF money, the college authorities at different times had filed cases against the EPF in the High Court and wasted time. And even after the suit was dismissed, the college authorities did not pay the dues.

As a result, the employees of the college suffered as their EPF accounts became inactive, the sources said. Those who have retired are having to run from pillar to post for withdrawal of EPF pension as their accounts are not updated, as per TNIE.

The EPFO sources said that the college owes over Rs one crore, including dues, interest and penalties. Expressing strong resentment over the matter, students of the college and their parents have demanded that the Higher Education Department should recover the EPF arrears from those who are responsible for the delay in the deposit.