Study Class of NOINO WZ at Satara - a report

A two-day Study Class of NOINO WZ was organized at Hotel Lake View, Satara on 15^th & 16^th August 2011. 128 officers from 18 Divisions participated in this study class. Two delegates from North Zone Shri S.K.Saini, President, NOINO, North Zone & Shri Rajeev Sharma, GS, NOINO, North Zone and one delegate from Central Zone Shri R.O.Kalra also participated in the study class as  observers.  The lodging & boarding arrangements for all the participants were made at the Hotel itself. The 2 days’ study class was inaugurated by Shri P.K.Mahapatra (Marketing Manager, Satara DO). Dr. Umesh Pingle (DMR, Satara DO); Shri Ganesh Kamath, All India General Secretary, NOINO;  Shri Mahadeo Bapat, All India Vice President, NOIW; Shri A.B.Deshpande, President, NOIW, WZ were the guests of honour. Also Present on the dais were Shri Vilas Purkar, President, NOINO, WZ; Shri Vishwas Shastri, GS, NOINO, WZ, Smt Anagha Sant, Organising Secretary, NOINO, WZ; Shri S.D.Daithankar, President, NOINO Satara DO during the inaugural session.

The study class started with a Shramik Geet beautifully sung by Shri Sanjay Sanglikar, ABM(S), Ratnagiri, and lighting of lamp by Shri P.K.Mahapatra (MM, Satara DO) & other dignitaries present. Thereafter, Shri Vishwas Shastri, GS, NOINO, WZ introduced all the guests present on the dais. Shri S.D.Daithankar, President, NOINO, Satara unit, in his welcome speech welcomed all the dignitaries and delegates for the study class at Satara and gave information about the various beautiful scenic locations of Satara.

 Shri Vilas Purkar, President, NOINO, WZ in his introductory speech underlined the importance of such a study class and its utility in development of Karyakartas. Shri A.B.Deshpande, NOIW, WZ President showered his blessings & wished the study class great success. Shri P.K.Mahapatra in his inaugural speech appreciated the efforts taken by NOINO in raising the important issues of Class-I officers, particularly in securing a handsome charter. He also stressed the need of organization in the present scenario.

The inaugural function was followed by an informative & eye-opening lecture on stress management by Dr. Umesh Pingle, DMR, Satara DO. Everybody was greatly impressed with his lecture. Dr. Umesh Pingle in his humorous way entertained the gathering and educated them to over-come the stress in a simple manner. All longed to hear him for some more time, but time constraints ruled otherwise.

After the informative lecture on stress management by Dr.Umesh Pingle there was a lecture on Mass Communication through Mail and group SMSing by Shri Vishwas Shastri. This was done with the help of power-point presentation. The main attraction of the study class was how to draft a charter and how DA is merged/neutralized while drafting charter. On this subject Shri Mahadeo Bapat, All India Vice President, NOIW, delivered a wonderful presentation, which everybody listened with rapt attention. Shri Bapat was thanked by NOINO, WZ for his efforts.

An elocution competition was organized there-after. The objective was to encourage new activists to be proficient in public speech. One person from each division was asked to speak on one of the 4 given topics. Everybody actively participated in this elocution competition. Three officers namely Shri Vilas Purkar from Nashik, Shri Kirit Barot from Nadiad and Shri S.K.Saini acted as  judges for this competition. The three winners were: - 1. Shri Amit Vaidya from Vadodara 2. Shri Anil Bhagdikar from Nagpur and 3. Shri H.P.Shah from Nadiad. The winners were awarded prizes by Shri Ganesh Kamath.

After the elocution competition Shri Ganesh Kamath, All India General Secretary, NOINO, gave an inspiring lecture on ‘How to conduct gate meetings and how to deliver a speech’. Shri Kamath drawing on his vast experience and knowledge gave lots of simple but very practical & important tips to all the participants. Everybody was enthralled with his high quality 1 hour marathon speech.

An entertainment programme was organized in the evening in which about 20 participants show-cased their talents. The main attraction of the program was a soulful Gazhal sung by Smt Madhuri Barve from Nagpur. Shri Vilas Purkar sang bharud (Marathi folk song) with great gusto. Our Gujarati brothers broke into a colourful Garba which everybody enjoyed.

On the 2^nd day a trip to Sajjangadh was arranged in the morning. Sajjangadh is a beautiful place on hill surrounded by natural scenic beauty, wherein the Samadhi of Swami Ramdasji, Guru of Shivaji Maharaj also exists. Everybody enjoyed the trip.

After the trip the 2^nd day’s proceedings started with a Shramik geet by Shri Vishwas Shastri. A questionnaire had been distributed to all participants on the 1^st day which was to be answered by all participants and to be given to Smt Anagha Sant on the same day. On the 2^nd day Smt Anagha Sant reviewed all the answers given by the participants, she took lots of pain in evaluating these question papers and drawing conclusions for her review.

After Smt Anagha Sant’s review, Shri Ganesh Kamath spoke on ‘Organisation and Qualities of Karyakarta’. In an hour-long speech, Shri Kamath in his inimitable style explained as to what is organization, why there is a need of Organization and what are the qualities of a karyakarta. He gave lots of stress on the discipline to be maintained by each & every NOINO activist and appealed everybody to follow the principles of BMS in general & Shraddheya   Shri Dattopant Thengadiji in particular. And at the end of his speech he congratulated and thanked all the members of NOINO Satara DO for their excellent hospitality and making the study class a grand success. The atmosphere was charged after Shri Kamath’s speech.

At the end Shri Vishwas Shastri proposed the vote of thanks on behalf of NOINO, WZ.

The study-class ended on a high note with Shri V V Badge, Manager(Sales), Satara singing ‘Sampoorna Vande-Mataram’ with unmatched quality & feelings.

The whole study class proceedings were conducted by Shri Vikas Gangakhedkar, Treasurer, NOINO, WZ. All the members from NOINO Satara DO took lots of pain and worked day and night for the success of the study class.

Bravado..!! IISc scholars fast in support of Anna

IISc (Indian Institute of Science), Bangalore (Bengaluru) is the premier research institute of Govt of India.

On 15^th August 2011 the scholars (students) of the institute decided to fast for one meal to show their solidarity to Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption in India and pledge support to the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by civil society members.

As such, kitchens of all the three mess(es) of the institute were closed for the evening of 15^th August and scholars kept fast.

We appreciate the move of the scholars and extend our support to the cause of the nation.

स्वतन्त्रता दिवस की बधाई

भारतवर्ष के चौंसठवें स्वतन्त्रता दिवस पर सभी देशवासियों को हार्दिक बधाईयाँ !

Happy Independence Day!

(From General Secretary's desk)

   I wish all of you a very happy independence day. It has become customary to wish one another a happy independence day. All patriotic citizens of the country wish each other in the right spirit. However, one cannot but be pensive & think about the future of this country. With scams galore & corruption rampant, it is to be said that difficult times are ahead. The international scene is much worse. The American economy is in doldrums, Greece has gone bankrupt, Italy needs 500 billion euros to repay its debt; Spain & Germany are not far too behind & are tethering on the brink.

   The Corporation is also facing the biggest challenge at the moment, with business in the red & no-one at the TOP to take responsibility. The only thing we as a common person can do is to be sincere & honest in whatever we do & try to imbibe the same values in the next generation. Only good values & principles will deter a person from commiting follies. We need to be optimistic & I am sure our country will come out of the prevailing situation. Vande mataram!!!

Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO

रक्षाबंधन की शुभकामनाएं

॥ॐ॥ रक्षाबंधन की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं ॥ॐ॥

॥ॐ॥ श्री कृष्ण गोविँद हरे मुरारी, हे नाथ नारायण वासुदेवा ॥ॐ॥

Those women & girls who do not have brothers may tie Rakhis to Gods

AAO job rotation - NOINO protests the lapse

It was brought to our notice that AAO’s working in Central Office and Internal Audit Deptt, West Zone were not interviewed for job-rotation to marketing side. We immediately wrote to the ED(Pesonnel) in this regard protesting the lapse. The letter written to the ED(P) is reproduced below:

13.8.2011

The Executive Director (Personnel),

L.I.C of India.

Dear Sir,

Re: Interview to the cadre of ABM (S)

           We reliably learn that the AAO’s working in either Central Office or in Internal Audit (which is under Central Office) who have applied for job-rotation have not been called for interview by the Western Zone though they satisfy the required criteria. We do not know the reasons why they have not been called for interview.

            However, we feel that if these officers are not called for interview in spite of the fact that they have applied for the same & having satisfied the criteria, this would amount to discrimination.

            We, therefore, urge you to intervene immediately & take action & ensure that these officers are given an opportunity for rotation to marketing at the earliest.

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

Ganesh Kamath

GS, NOINO

NOINO DELEGATION MEETS ED(P)

NOINO DELEGATION MEETS ED (P) ON PENDING ISSUES

         A NOINO delegation comprising of Dr. Sunil Bhushan Sharan, All India Working President; Shri Ganesh Kamath, All India General Secretary;  Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, GS, NOINO Mumbai unit & Shri Manish Patankar, President, NOINO Mumbai unit met Executive Director ( Personnel), Shri B Manivannan on 8^th August 2011 to discuss the following pending issues:-

1. One more pension option: - We once again raised this demand & enquired about the status. ED replied that currently no steps were being taken to raise this issue with the Government though the issue was already with the Government. One possible obstacle was the rising gap between the contribution of the employees & the provision to be made for a DA-linked pension. Since the number of employees who had not opted was small, the expected contribution from them would also not be much. We, however, argued that the burden of the shortfall would not be much & LIC had the financial capacity to bear it. We strongly insisted that the matter should be pursued with the government forthwith. 
2. AAO notification: - We protested the delay in the notification of promotion to the cadre of AAO & asked the reasons for the same. ED replied that a) the process for this years’ drafting of ITSG personnel was underway & b) the process of raising the age of qualifying for AAO’s under 1(B) to 45 was underway. This was expected in a short while after which the notification would be issued. This would ensure that more vacancies would be available.
3. Housing loan with HFL: - We strongly protested the various & serious problems faced by the employees after the portfolio was transferred to HFL. We raised certain issues in this respect. E.g. a) the last date for take-over of loan was 31^st March 2011. However, in absence of individual intimation, several employees were denied the take-over by HFL for no fault of theirs. b) HFL was charging full EMI though i) option of payment of only interest was given by employees & ii) though part loan was released, EMI was charged for full loan. ED replied that he would discuss this matter with HFL & HPF & try to sort out matters at the earliest. We, however, reiterated that the only solution was to bring back this portfolio back to LIC.
4. Allowance to CA’s & to officers acquiring other professional qualifications: - We submitted that in other institutions like SBI where the CA’s were recruited in Scale II & scale III, they were getting paid substantially more. We also pointed out that the CA’s recruited in the AAO cadre were becoming frustrated due to this & were resigning from LIC. We demanded that a substantial allowance on the lines of Actuarial/IT should be paid. ED replied that the management will examine what it could do to stop the brain-drain. We also pointed out that the officers are not paid anything if they acquire the professional qualifications like FIII after they become officers. We strongly demanded that this injustice should be removed forthwith. We also pointed out that in RBI the officers were being paid Rs 900 if they pass JAIIB & 1100 if they pass CAIIB (2000 if they pass both). ED assured that the management would examine the issue.
5. Class IV & III recruitment: - We inquired about the reasons of the delay in Class IV recruitment. ED replied that there were litigations in some of the courts which would be combined & presented before the Supreme Court. A result in this matter was expected shortly, after which the decks will be cleared for the Class IV recruitment. We also demanded that Class III recruitment should be started forthwith to reduce the burden on the Class I Officers. ED replied that after the recruitment of Class IV, a decision will be taken in this matter.
6. Information sharing meeting: - We pointed out that Information sharing meeting had not been conducted since 19^th July 2010 & hence such a meeting with associations should be conducted immediately. ED agreed that it was a long time since such meeting was not conducted & said that such possibility would be explored at the earliest
7. Problems associated with EFEAP & compensation for the same: - We pointed out that the employees particularly in branches were bearing the brunt of the policyholders due to the problems emanating after the implementation of EFEAP. We also pointed out that even where the implementation was done long back, the problems showed no signs of subsiding. ED said that he would discuss this matter with IT. We also strongly demanded compensation for the programmers as well as all the officers involved in the implementation of EFEAP as this process had to be completed only after office hours. ED agreed to examine the issue. 
8. 5 days week: - We reiterated our demand of 5 days week. ED replied that no such proposal was on anvil.
9. Status of the post of a regular Chairman: - ED said that the picture was likely to be clear by September.
10.  LTC: - We reiterated our old demands that a) LTC rules should be simplified b) Encashment of LTC to be granted c) Air-travel to be allowed for all officers d) Holiday homes to be constructed by LIC wherever possible. ED said that these matters would be examined after a while.
11.  Meal coupons: - We reiterated our earlier demand that the meal coupons should be linked with DA. We demanded that since a year would be completed in September, the review should be taken forthwith. ED replied that no such proposal was being considered. However, we insisted that the amount should be revised at the earliest.

NOINO assures the Class I Officers that it will continue to pursue the pending issues.

Extended EC meeting of NOINO in Delhi

  1. It has been decided to hold the extended EC meeting of NOINO on 21st & 22nd November 2011 in Delhi.

  2. BMS has organised a mammoth morcha on 23rd November 2011 to protest the anti-labour policies of the Central government in Delhi. All of us have to compulsorily participate in the Morcha. In fact, the EC meeting has been so arranged to co-ordinate with the Morcha.

  3. All the National office-bearers have to attend the EC meeting. This means that GS, WP, Treasurer/Asst Treasurer/ All Vice-presidents/ All joint secretaries/Zonal Secretaries/Zonal Presidents & EC members have to attend.

  4. In addition to the above the divisions have to ensure that minimum 3 participants & maximum 5 participants come to the Meeting. If there are 3 participants, there should be at least 1 female officer. The other two should be Divn Secy & President. If there are 5 participants there should be at least 2 female officers. This limit does not apply to Delhi divisions.

  5. The delegate fee will be 400 Rs. each.

  6. The stay arrangements will be available from 20th evening onwards to 23rd evening. The food arrangements will be from 20th night dinner till 23rd afternoon.

  7. The Zonal/divisional secretaries/presidents should immediately start finalising the names.

  8. The Zonal Secretaries/ Presidents will report the final names on 16th August to the All India GS & All India Working President.

  9. The Zonal Secretaries/ Presidents will report the confirmed booking of tickets & the details on 23rd August.

 10. Other details & changes if any would be conveyed later.

NOINO Dehradun Divl committee reconstituted

The All India General Secretary of NOINO, Shri Ganesh Kamath was on a visit to Dehradun division on 2nd August 2011 along with Shri Rajesh Dubey, All India Joint Secretary, NOINO. On this occasion, about 25 Class I Officers were present in the meeting. It was decided to re-constitute the committee of NOINO Dehradun unit in this meeting. Shri Rajesh Dubey in his inimitable style spoke on the need of NOINO & urged the officers present to dedicate themselves for the cause of organisation. Shri Ganesh Kamath spoke on the achievements of NOINO & the current situation in LIC. He also dwelt upon the status of various pending issues of the LIC employees. The following committee was unanimously formed:-

Name	Post and Designation	Mobile	E-mail
Shri Ghanshyam kumar	President, DM P&GS	9411395657	Kumar.ghanshyam@licindia.com
Shri P L Semwal	V.President, Mgr-CLIA	9412027054	p.semwal@licindia.com
Shri S S Pangty	V. President, AO-OS	9837525583	s.pangti@licindia.com
Shri Mahesh Joshi	Gen Secy , AO-V.Ngr Branch	9412348770	Mk_joshi@licindia.com
Shri Rishi Malhotra	Resi Secy- AAO-CLIA	9415723353	r.malhotra@licindia.com
Ms Hiya Banerjee	Jt Secy , AAO-Rishikesh	9456710942	Hiya.banerjee@licindia.com
Shri Ramesh Rawat	Jt secy, AAO, DDUN-2 Branch	9411362290	Rameshrawat10@licindia.com
Shri B M Deoli	Treasurer, BM –P&GS	9411208922	b.deoli@licindia.com
Shri Ravindra Bachhetti	Media desk, AAO-Sales	9412438104	Ravindr.bachetie@licindia.com

There-after the entire committee along with Shri Kamath & Shri Dubey met the DM-in-charge Shri J P S Bajaj & exchanged pleasantries. Shri Tribhuvan Adhikary, MM, Dehradun was also present in this meeting.

Along with the above committee, Shri Rajesh Dubey & Shri Sanjeev Singhal of NOIW were instrumental in the reconstitution of the committee. Shri Singhal strived hard to make the meeting a success & we thank him for his co-operation.

Mahadharna staged successfully

As proposed, the MAHADHARNA to lodge our protest against the proposed placement of the bills related to hike in FDI in insurance sector and LIC (Amendment) Bill 2009 in Rajya Sabha for discussion and passing, was staged very successfully today at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. About 1000 activists from all the 4 organizations of BMS working in LIC of India viz. NOINO, NOIW, NOIP & BLIAS attended the dharna. Four MP's also addressed the gathering. They were:

(a) Shri Prakash Javadekar, MP (Rajya Sabha), BJP and also President, NOINO,
(b) Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, MP (Lok Sabha), BJP,
(c) Shri Chandan Mitra, MP (Rajya Sabha), BJP, and
(d) Shri Bharat Kumar Raut, MP (Rajya Sabha), Shiv Sena.

All the 4 MP's pledged their support to the cause of the dharna and further assured that they would always be ready to stand with the 4 organizations whenever need arose.

Memorandums were also submitted to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.

The impact of the canvassing regarding the dharna and finally staging it was instant - the Central Govt dropped the idea of placing these 2 bills during current Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Initiating Mahadharna

Office-bearers of BMS & 4 affiliates who organized the Dharna - (From Right) Sarvashri S.L.Burman, President, NOIP; Atul Deshpande, GS, NOIW; Pawan Kumar, Zonal Organizing Secretary (NCZ), BMS; Manoj Gandhi, President, NOIW; Ganesh Kamath, GS, NOINO; Dr S.B.Sharan, Working President, NOINO; Swarup Biswas, GS, BLIAS

NOINO President Shri Prakash Javadekar, MP(Rajya Sabha)

Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, MP(Lok Sabha), BJP addressing Mahadharna

Shri Chandan Mitra, MP(Rajya Sabha) BJP, Journalist & Economic Analyst addressing Mahadharna

Shri Bharat Kumar Raut, MP(Rajya Sabha) Shiv Sena addressing Mahadharna

Shri Ganesh Kamath, General Secretary, NOINO addressing

Mahadharna concludes