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.