NOINO office-bearers write to MD on wage-revision

As a part of NOINO’s continuous efforts for initiation of wage-revision & as per the decision of our EC meeting at Chennai on 22nd & 23rd April 2013, our Central & Zonal Office-bearers sent the following mail today, i.e. 23rd July 2013 to the Managing Director, Shri Sushobhan Sarker as a follow-up to the issue of wage-revision:

The Managing Director,

LIC of India,

Central Office,

Mumbai

----------

Respected Sir,

Re: Wage Revision due on 1st August 2012

The wage-revision of the Class I Officers & employees is due since 1st August 2012.

National Organization of Insurance Officers’(NOINO), representing the Class I Officers in LIC has submitted its Charter of Demands on 23rd July 2012 itself i.e.  8 days before the wage-revision was due.

Today, i.e. on 23rd July 2013, one year has been completed we submitted our Charter of Demands. The LIC management has not invited the unions representing Class I Officers & employees. This has led to unrest among the Class I Officers & the employees.

The Class I Officers toil day and night for the institution (LIC) but when their wage revision becomes due, it is always delayed for settlement. We feel, it is injustice to Class-I officers and employees.

Our Executive committee had met on 22nd & 23rd April at Chennai to review the situation & has decided to continue our efforts for initiating the talks on wage-revision. As a part of the decisions, we are sending this mail to you.

We, therefore, request you to start talks immediately on our pending wage-revision.

Yours faithfully,

NOINO office-bearers

NOINO DELEGATION MEETS ED(P) ON PENDING ISSUES

    A NOINO delegation led by General Secretary Smt Anagha Sant  & consisting of Shri Rajesh Dubey, Organizing Secretary; Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, Resident Secretary; Smt Trupti Bramhe, EC member & Shri Ganesh Kamath, Chief Advisor, NOINO met ED(P) Shri M R Kumar on 12^th July 2013 to discuss the pending issues of Class I Officers. Shri Tirthraj Mendiratta, Chief (P) was also present during this meeting. The following issues were discussed/raised:-

1. One more option for pension:- We once again demanded that one more option should be given to the remaining employees. We also reiterated that this issue should be settled outside wage-revision. ED was positive on this issue & said that the management would be taking up this matter shortly with the government & all efforts would be made to clinch this issue.

2.    Discussions on wage-revision---ED said that it was the endeavour of the management to try & settle the matter of one more option for pension first. The wage-revision issue would follow shortly.

3.    One more option for GTIS---- We pointed out that some of the employees who have opted for pension, have been left out from exercising the option to participate in the GTIS scheme. We demanded that one more option should be given to all such employees.

4.    LTC/Transfer incidentals/Transportation charges/Packing charges:--a) LTC-We reiterated our earlier demands such as Simplification of rules; Air travel to all; Foreign LTC to be allowed; Cash re-imbursement if journey not undertaken etc. B)Transfer incidentals—We pointed out that these have not been revised in 27 years; C) Transportation charges/Packing charges/loading-unloading charges---have not been revised for 16 years. ED assured to look into all these matters & said that the management was working on all these issues

5.     Anomaly after computer increment—We pointed out that this issue was pending for 17 years & we were continuously raising this issue since long. ED said that the management would definitely look into the matter. He also said that if possible, this matter would be settled along with wage-revision.

6.    Restoration of NGI after strike on 18.2.2010 & 2 days’ strike Feb 2013—As you are aware, we have been taking up the issue of restoration of NGI after a group gave a call for strike on 18.2.2010(though NOINO was not a party to this strike). ED was not positive on this issue as strike notice was not given by the organizers of the strike. However, he was positive on the issue of restoration of NGI for the 2 days’ strike in February 2013.

7.    Revision in GSLI—We raised this issue once again & pointed out that the revision was pending for 6 years. ED was positive on this issue & said that the management was working on it.

8.    Recruitment in Class III—We raised this issue once again & said that there was no recruitment in Class III since 4 years. ED was positive on this issue & said that the process would start shortly.

9.    Sabbatical leave—We raised this issue once again & pointed out that the leave was implemented in banks last year from 1.4.12. ED assured to look into the matter.

10. Mini offices: We said that since the duties in the Mini Offices were non-supervisory, Class I Officers should not be deployed in these offices. We also demanded that in case, an officer is posted on deputation it should be with his consent (say due to proximity to his residence) & conveyance/deputation allowance should also be paid to him. We demanded that CO should instruct all Zones to ask the divisions to issue notification inviting applications for posting to Mini Offices. ED was positive on this issue & assured to look into the matter.

11. Officers performing duties of cashiers in satellite branches :- We once again raised this issue & reiterated our opposition to Class I Officers performing non-supervisory duties resulting in a loss to the officer as well as the Corporation. ED assured to look into the matter.

12. Restriction on mail recipients---We raised this issue once again. ED was positive & assured to talk to IT department in this matter.

13.  5 days week—We once again raised this issue. ED sounded positive on this issue, but said that in case, this was to be implemented; various aspects would have to be looked into. He said that management would definitely give a thought.

14.  Login not to be compulsory for Marketing officials—ED was not positive on this issue.

15.  Election duty—We pointed out that in spite of the fact that the Mumbai High court having twice delivered judgement on this issue—Once on 25^th September 2009 with respect to LIC & on 20^th June 2013 with respect to Oriental Insurance Company (where the court ruled that Insurance companies are not “local authority” & hence its employees cannot be requisitioned for election duty) lists of employees are still being called in Mumbai by EC. We demanded that the CO should write to all Zones giving reference of this judgement & giving suitable instructions to tackle this issue. ED agreed to talk to the Legal department in this matter.
16. Scheme of ex-gratia re-imbursement in High cost/protracted treatment of major diseases :--We pointed out the following:-

a.    Revision in limits of re-imbursement: --- Looking into the spiraling medical costs over the years, the limits should be revised immediately. We demanded that the limit should be revised to at least 10 lakhs each time, i.e. total at least 20 lakhs. Another point is that those who have opted for a higher sum assured in the mediclaim scheme are sort of put to loss as the limit of ex-gratia re-imbursement is the same for all irrespective of the sum assured in the mediclaim scheme.

b.    Removal of condition of a fixed percentage of re-imbursement instead of full re-imbursement:--- At present, 90% of the claim is payable after deduction of mediclaim re-imbursement(for expenses up to 3,33,333) & 70 % of the claim for expenses in excess of Rs. 3,33,333. We demanded that full re-imbursement to the extent of the ex-gratia amount should be allowed. ED was positive on this issue.
17. Granting of Metro status to Pune & considering Panvel as an agglomeration of Mumbai & treating it as an “A” class city: - ED said that the management was waiting for the gazette notification in this matter.
18. Subsidy on housing loan:- We pointed out that many employees have not got the subsidy payment since long & urged ED to resolve this issue at the earliest. ED said that the management was seized of the matter & it would be resolved very shortly.
19. Mobile handset re-imbursement:- While welcoming the benefit introduced by the management, we also demanded A) the starting limit should be increased to 10000/-. B) It should be paid to officers on deputation to other organizations. C) It should also be paid to all officers on probation. ED agreed to look into the matter.
20. PLLI:- We demanded that Corporation should pay 6% ex-gratia as PLLI. ED was not positive on this matter. We also demanded that the statement of intent should be known before the financial year & the parameters should be reduced & simplified. ED agreed to both the suggestions & said that whatever best is possible would be done.

NOINO will continue to follow-up the pending issues.

NOINO’s GIST OF ACTIVITIES - JUNE 2012 TO JUNE 2013

NOINO’s subscription year starts from 1^st July every year when we take an account of what we did during last one year. We give, here-in-below, ‘Gist of Activities’ which we did during last 13 months i.e. from June 2012 to June 2013:

FORMATION OF UNITS / AGM’s / RECONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEES

16.6.2012 - In an historic break-through, NOINO SZ unit was formed.

31.08.12 - NOINO SATNA DIVISION (CZ) UNIT FORMED

16.9.2012 - NOINO Coimbatore DIVISION (SZ) unit formed.

06.10.12 - NOINO JABALPUR DIVISION (CZ) Unit reformed.

02.11.2012 - NOINO Burdwan DIVISION (EZ) Unit formed.

23.12.2012 - History is made. Entire Class I Federation unit of Surat DIVISION (WZ) affiliates itself with NOINO.

4.3.2013 - NOINO Lucknow DIVISION (NCZ) unit formed.

5.5.2013 - NOINO Bongaigaon DIVISION (EZ) unit formed.

7.5.2013 - NOINO Jorhat DIVISION (EZ) unit formed.

9.6.2013 – NOINO Silchar DIVISION (EZ) unit reformed.

LETTERS TO / DISCUSSIONS WITH MANAGEMENT

2.6.2012--- NOINO delegation met Shri Sushobhan Sarker, MD & discussed various issues like One more pension option; Sabbatical leave to women employees; Revision in re-imbursement of high cost/protracted treatment; Anomaly in fixation after computer increment; Recruitment in Class III; Information sharing meeting etc.

2.7.2012---NOINO delegation met Shri M R Kumar, ED(P) & discussed various issues like one more pension option, sabbatical leave, 5 days week, anomaly after computer increment, Instructions about PL encashment; Revision in lease accommodation rent; Revision in Ex-gratia re-imbursement for High cost/protracted treatment; Recruitment in Class III; Information sharing meeting; Programmers being utilized for other jobs etc

23.7.2012---- A 30 member NOINO delegation led by NOINO President Shri Prakash Javadekar, MP, Rajyasabha met Chairman Shri Dinesh Mehrotra & submitted the Charter of demands of Class I Officers due on 1.8.2012. The main features of the Charter were 40% rise; running scales; grade pay & increment as a percentage of pay(basic pay+grade pay)  instead of a fixed amount.

23.7.2012-----NOINO WZ delegation met Shri R R Dash, ZM, WZ & discussed various issues relating to Class I Officers in the Zone.

24.7.2012---NOINO delegation met Shri M R Kumar, ED (P) & discussed issues like Revision in lease accommodation rent; Revision in ex-gratia re-imbursement for High cost/protracted treatment; Representation cases of promotion; Notification of promotion from Class III to Class I; Highhandedness of a section of management in SCZ; Granting of Metro status to Pune division; LTC; Injustice to NOINO office-bearers in Srinagar unit etc.

9.8.2012---Letter submitted to ED (P) on meal coupons. The points raised in this letter were the reiterating & reminder of earlier demands like finding alternatives to meal coupons; meal coupons should be de-linked from attendance & that the meal coupons should be paid for all days of the month, whether working or not; the meal coupons should be DA-linked; amount should be revised from 1^st September 2012; in case an officer is on official tour & if journey period expires before office hours or commences after office hours meal coupon should be given for that irrespective of whether DA has been paid for that day or not; while opposing the meal coupons being linked to attendance, pending this demand, Class I Officers should be given one extra coupon for every 3.30 extra hours they put in.

10.8.2012---Letter submitted to ED (OS/SBU/Estates) protesting the meagre hike in lease accommodation rent limits.

25.8.2012---A comprehensive note on Transfer/Posting policy submitted to management. 33 suggestions were made in this note.

29.8.2012---NOINO delegation met ED(P), Shri M R Kumar & discussed issues like PLLI; Meal coupons; Attendance Grace period; Notification of promotion(Class III to Class I); Injustice to Class I Officers in various issues like filing of property returns, subsidy in GSLI, fixing of responsibility etc.

3.9.2012---Letter submitted to ED (P) demanding Revision in limit of re-imbursement of lodging charges at hotels & daily allowance to employees on official tour; increase in transfer incidentals; increase in packing charges; demand to pay un-packing charges; removal of “20 days clause” from circular on revision in mode of travel allowed to SDM’s on transfer.

11.10.2012---NOINO delegation met Shri Sushobhan Sarker, MD & discussed issues like Inviting unions for discussions on Charter; PLLI; One more Pension option; Restoration of NGI on account of strike on 18^th February 2010; Revision in GSLI limits; Anomaly after Computer Increment; Encashment of LTC & Air travel to all Officers; Subsidy on Mediclaim premium to Class I Officers; Excess & Wrong payments & fixing of responsibility etc.

15.10.2012---NOINO SZ delegation met ZM, SZ & RM (P & IR), SZ & discussed various issues concerning Class I Officers in the Zone.

20.10.2012--- NOINO EZ delegation met Shri D P Mohanty, RM (P & IR), EZ & discussed various issues concerning Class I Officers in the Zone.

31.10.2012---NOINO WZ delegation met Shri R R Dash, ZM, WZ & discussed various issues regarding Class I officers in the Zone.

3.12.2012---NOINO WZ delegation met Shri R R Dash, ZM, WZ again & discussed various issues regarding Class I officers in the Zone.

11.12.2012---Letter to ED(P) protesting the non-consideration of certain batches for promotion to ADM & DM cadre.

14.12.2012---NOINO Delegation met ED(P) Shri M R Kumar & Chief(P), Shri T Mendiratta & discussed issues such as Batches for Promotion; One more Pension Option;  Fixing of Responsibility for Excess/Wrong Payments; Commencing Discussions on Charter of Demands; Class III recruitment & paucity of cashiers; Mediclaim Subsidy for Class I officers; Compulsion of filing Property returns for Class I officers; Restriction on mail recipients etc.

1.1.2013------NOINO GS wrote a letter to Chairman extending greetings for the Calendar Year 2013 & at the same time raising issues such as wage-revision, one more pension option, recruitment in Class III, non-inclusion of some batches for promotion to the cadre of ADM & DM, fixing up of responsibility over EWP cases, security aspect of the female officers etc.

11.1.2013---NOINO President Shri Prakash Javadekar(MP, Rajyasabha) led a delegation to the Chairman, Shri Dinesh Mehrotra & discussed issues such as Batches for promotion; Discussions on Charter; One more option for pension; Recruitment of Class III & Cashiers; Autocratic behavior of certain SDM’s in WZ.

8.4.2013---NOINO writes letter to Managing Director Sushobhan Sarker protesting the extension of Claims settlement to 11^th April 2013, the Hindu New Year day (a holiday & auspicious day for many).

9.4.2013---NOINO once again writes a letter to Managing Director Sushobhan Sarker on the issue of extension of MI/NB/F & A closing to 11^th April 2013.

18.4.2013---NOINO writes letter to Chairman, Shri Dinesh Mehrotra on pending issues such as Discussions on wage-revision; One more option for pension;  Recruitment of Class III employees;  Sabbatical leave to female employees;  Anomaly in fixation after grant of Computer Increment;  Revision in GSLI; Granting of Metro status to Pune & considering Panvel as an agglomeration of Mumbai & treating it as “A” class city;  Modification in the High cost treatment scheme;  Restoration of NGI of strike dated 18^th Feb 2010 etc.

3.5.2013----NOINO WZ office-bearers met ZM, WZ Shri Vinay Sah & Smt T S Hindoyar, RM, P&IR, WZ & raised issues such as Transfers of DM/CM/ADM/SBM/AO/BM; Criteria of Postings/transfers within Mumbai; Convening of Information sharing Meeting etc.

7.5.2013—NOINO delegation had a brief meeting with ED(P) Shri M R Kumar on the issues of transfers of ADM’s who have been posted to other Zones; CM’s who had completed 3 years outside their home division not transferred back to their home divisions; Issues of de-rotation, extension of marketing stint etc.

OTHER ACTIVITIES / ACHIEVEMENTS

04.06.2012/05.06.2012---15^th EC meeting of NOINO conducted at Indore.

21.6.2012-----Due to continuous efforts of NOINO, the monetary limits for re-imbursement of tea-coffee expenses of Class I officers were increased with effect from 1st July 2012.

28.7.2012----Meeting at Mumbai to brief about the Charter of demands submitted & to explain the justification of those demands. About 200 officers attended.

30.7.2012--- Due to continuous efforts of NOINO, the limits of lease accommodation rent were revised w.e.f. 1^st August 2012.

12.8.2012---Meeting at Nagpur to brief about the Charter of demands submitted & to explain the justification of those demands. About 70 officers attended.

12^th August 2012 to 14^th August 2012---All India study class for female activists conducted by BMS at Delhi. Smt Anagha Sant (All India Joint Secretary & Orgn Secy, WZ) & Smt Vandana Kolarkar represented NOINO.

13.8.2012/14.8.2012--All India study class for NOINO activists held at Nagpur.

1.9.2012--- Due to continuous efforts of NOINO, the amount of meal coupons was revised w.e.f. 1^st September 2012.

12.10.2012--- Meeting of selected affiliates in forenoon and rally of all affiliated Federations in afternoon convened at Delhi by BMS headquarters against introduction of FDI in Retail, Pension etc and raise of FDI in Insurance. NOINO was represented on both occasions by Dr S.B.Sharan, Working President and Shri Ashok Kr Sharma, Coordinator, Pension-option campaign.

14.10.2012---Meeting of female officers of Pune divisions. About 60 female employees attended. Our All India President Shri Prakash Jawadekar MP, Rajyasabha, Shri Udayrao Patwardhan All India Head of BMS for Financial sector, Shri Subhashchandra Pattanaik SDM, Pune 2 and Shri Vishwas Shastri, Zonal Secretary graced the occasion

15.10.2012--- Management accepted & implemented one of our 33 suggestions (in our Transfer/Posting note submitted to management on 25.8.2012) of allotting the Direct recruit officers to Zones instead of directly allotting them to divisions. This happened for the first time in 26 Batches of recruitment.

15.10.2012---Due to continuous follow-up by NOINO, Board approved 4% ex-gratia in lieu of PLLI for the year 2011-12. Our demand for uniform PLLI to all was also accepted.

5.11.2012/6.11.2012---16^th Extended EC meeting of NOINO held at Dehradun

4.12.2012----Due to continuous follow-up by NOINO, partial modification of High Cost scheme like addition of 5 more major diseases to the list of 30 major diseases & Removal of restriction of time limit of 180 days for re-imbursement of post-hospitalization expenses for 4 more diseases in addition to cancer & kidney transplant.

26.12.2012—After raising the demand to increase the re-imbursement of lodging charges for official tour on 3^rd September 2012 & continuous follow-up, management increased the re-imbursement of lodging charges w.e.f 1.1.2013.

28.12.2012---Huge demonstrations at Yogakshem where over 500 Class I Officers participated to highlight issues such as not considering some batches for promotion to the cadre of ADM/DM; Immediate commencement of discussions on Charter of Demands; One more option for pension; Harassment of Class one officers on recovery of EWP; Compulsion of property returns/DOPA/P-form on class one officers; Immediate recruitment of Class III employees to ease the burden on Class I Officers etc. Similar demonstrations were held at other Zones of the country.

31.1.2013—On the completion of six months since the Charter became due on 1.8.2012, NOINO wrote a letter to all the other unions in LIC appealing for a joint front on Charter & other common issues.

1.3.2013---NOINO President Shri Prakash Javadekar raised the issue of the pending wage-revision in LIC in the Rajyasabha & demanded initiation of discussions.

11.3.2013---NOINO had raised two demands vide the Charter of demands submitted on 23.7.2012 viz; Preventive Health check-up scheme & Computer advance. Thereafter, it started following it up. On 5^th & 6^th November 2012, the EC meeting of NOINO was held at Dehradun. Various resolutions regarding the issues of Class I Officers were passed. Two of these resolutions(Resolution 6 & 7) pertained to the above two demands. It is pertinent to note that the demand regarding Computer advance was acceded almost as it is while the demand for Preventive Health Check-up scheme was conceded partially.

22.4.2013/23.4.2013—17^th EC meeting of NOINO held at Chennai.

28.5.2013---NOINO President Shri Prakash Javadekar had a meeting with Financial Services Secretary, Shri Rajiv Takru & raised the issue of delay in initiating the discussions on wage-revision.

22.6.2013---NOINO Mumbai unit conducted a workshop on Housing Loan jointly with LIC HFL to address queries/doubts regarding staff housing loan. Over 100 employees attended.

24.6.2013---NOINO President Prakash Javadekar once again raised the issue of delay in wage-revision with Shri Rajiv Takru, Secretary, Financial Services. Shri Takru said that he had asked LIC management to convene talks on wage-revision as soon as possible.