An unfortunate incident happened in Warangal. An ABM(S) committed suicide
citing harassment from senior officials of LIC. This has caused a lot of
consternation, worry & unrest among the ranks of the officers. This gives
rise to the following points:-
If indeed the suicide was due to the harassment & humiliation by
senior officials, the management at the highest level, should sit up & take
serious note of it. This should not be & cannot be dismissed as a one-off
extreme case. No leniency should be shown to the officials alleged to have
driven the person to take such an extreme step.
No attempt should be made to brush the follies of anybody under the
carpet. The management should come out with a statement in this matter to clear
the air. It should also specify what exact action is being taken in this
matter.
As it is, Class I Officers are feeling frustrated. They are working
under immense pressure. The outdated & hackneyed system of extracting work
by harassment & humiliation should go lock, stock & barrel. Just consider the impediments with which a
Class I Officer works:-
a.
No recruitment in Class III & IV. They have to perform
non-supervisory functions.
b.
No overtime or compensation for continuous late sitting.
c.
No security for working after office-hours especially female
officers.
d.
Inadequate promotion opportunities.
e.
Inconvenient postings on promotion, if any.
f.
No progress on wage-revision front for last 2 years.
g.
Withdrawal of LTC benefits.
h.
Withdrawal of mementoes distributed in conferences for AAO’s
& AO’s.
Only the other day, an officer deputed from HRD-OD of CO came to the WZO
& demanded (from all classes of employees) as to what jobs they were doing.
The officer then noted everything. This is absolutely ridiculous &
insulting. Suddenly we got a feeling
that we were being watched & on a tight leash. This big-brotherly attitude
& treating the officers like criminals should go. Is this the ideal
environment for the growth of the Corporation? Where are we leading to?
A section of MM’s & SDM’s feel that only through humiliation &
pressure, would the marketing officials perform. They should understand that
the frustration & anger in the officers is building up & should mend
their ways immediately to prevent a snowballing of the crisis. The practice of
calling the officers on Sundays & holidays should stop forthwith.
On
one hand, marketing officials are being pressurised. On the other hand some
divisions have reported that the Divisional authorities are forcing the
officers in administrative side to perform marketing activities. As it is, the
officers are having their hands full.
The officers should also think over
the following:-
Whether it is worth to take so much
pressure? Is it worth to put our neck on the guillotine? Only when one has the
courage to say a big “NO” at the point one feels that one can’t take the stress,
the troubles will recede. Heavens will not fall if we say no. NOINO has been at
the fore-front on bringing to the fore all these issues. The officers should
rally round it.
The management at the highest level
should also introspect on the following issues:-
What is the frequency of Information
Sharing meetings? Whether Information Sharing meetings are held at Zonal &
divisional levels If there is no vent for pent-up feelings & no free
exchange of thoughts it will stymie the growth of the institution.
Why is that we are not doing well?
Is it because of wrong strategies? If so, how can we blame the marketing
officials? We have only a few plans in the market? Is it because the IRDA is
stalling our proposals? Or is it because we have not pushed for enough plans?
Whether we are taking officers at
all levels into confidence while taking policy decisions or are we just
dictating them?
A relaxed person gives more output
than a disturbed & a pressurised one. The sooner we realise this, the
better. An overwhelming majority of our officers are matured & responsible
enough to understand the responsibilities they shoulder. They don’t expect the
senior officials to mollycoddle them. But then neither do they expect that they
should be humiliated & pressurised.
Lastly, an appeal to all. We all are
very concerned about this issue. But let this concern not be a short-lived one.
Let the concern not be confined to mere lip-service. Let us come together. Remember what Swami Vivekanand said:-
“Be not afraid of anything. The
moment you fear, you are nobody. It is fear that is the greatest cause of
Misery in the world. It is fear that is the greatest of superstitions. It is
fear that is the cause of our woes, and it is fearlessness that brings Heaven
even in a moment. Therefore, “Arise, Awake, and stop not until the goal is
reached”
And the goal is definitely not to
get humiliated, pressurized and disturbed. Our goal is to live an honourable,
peaceful and social life.
Please cultivate the habit of saying
a firm “NO” before the water starts flowing above your head…!!!
