by
Ganesh Kamath
We are happy
to inform you that NOINO President Shri Prakash Javadekar has been
adjudged ‘Best political leader’ by Newspapers Association of India (NAI)
for its NAI Achievement Awards 2013. The award was conferred upon him on 30th
October 2013.
Our President, Shri Prakash Javadekar is one
of his kind. He is a law graduate. Contrary to the popular perception of an
average politician, he is unbelievably gentleman in his behavior. Easily
accessible, he has neither any hang-ups nor any hangover of the heady
power potion of politics. He travels without security & is exceptionally
free of any blot on his character. He has been quietly propelling a water
revolution in 11 vilages of Kolvan Valley (Mulshi Taluka/Pune district).
Through contour bunding & trenches, the water has been prevented from
flown away & its percolation has been enabled. Due to these efforts, the
water table has gone up so significantly that now the farmers in these 11
villages are raising 3 crops(including sugarcane) instead of 1 crop earlier.
Beneath his humble demeanour, lies a
steely resolve. He raised his voice against the draconian Emergency in 1975
& had to languish in jail for 19 months. He had to undergo heart
surgery(which was not very common those days) during this period in jail. He
survived it due to the grace of God, his will power & due to his noble
deeds.
As far as his involvement
in NOINO is concerned, it is simply incredible how the gentleman finds time to
devote for the LICians. It is simply because of him that the previous charter
got the necessary boost & push, a fact which we cannot forget. Even
today he is moving heaven & earth to see to it that the charter talks in
LIC commence soon. He has lent all his might to our struggle against increase
in FDI in Insurance sector as well as the proposed amendments in the Insurance
Act.
He has never lobbied for
any political or other benefits or awards & as a disciplined soldier of the
party carries on undeterred. This award has been earned by him on the
basis of some truly outstanding work & he is the most deserving person to
receive this award.
The NOINO family is proud to have such a
person at its helm!!!
We are Senior Marketing Executives (SME's). We perform the same duties as performed by permanent branch managers of LICI posted in the alternate channels. Our basic job is to procure business through the available resources. LICI advertised for this position. There was an All India Written Test, Group Discussion and personal interview. 103 selected candidates’ list was published in the corporation’s site. The training of such Candidates took place at National Insurance Academy (NIA). After getting posted in the four Alternate Channels at different Divisions of LICI spread across the length and breadth of the country, the SME’s were provided with appointment letters with several terms and conditions governing their employment. The same clearly mentioned that it is a contractual assignment of 3 years each with maximum term up to 3 times. These SME’s are to be treated as Branch Managers /Administrative Officer cadre in the Corporation’s existing regular service employees, and they should be given Salary Roll no. as in case of the regular employees and all travel allowances effective from the date of joining. The Annual CTC of 6 Lacs consists of the 70 per cent fixed and 30% variable, which they would have to earn by way of fulfilling certain sales criteria. We are into the second term and 4th year of our contract, having successfully completed our first term of 3 years. Our current strength is around 50. The remaining have either resigned for a more secure permanent job or have been terminated on grounds of non-fulfilment of the set targets, most of the times unrealistic. Clause 8 of the Engagement Letter states that there would be salary increment of up to 10% per year until the contract is renewed with new terms and conditions, but no such criteria of increment was exercised till 28.03.2013. LIC designed an increment criteria based on the earning of the variable pay and not on individuals business performance and considering the inflation and other economic scenario. Thus, denying increment to most of the SME's. Regarding variable pay, I would like to add here that most of the SMEs have never earned any variable pay or have earned miniscule amount due to impossible unrealistic criteria for earning them, set unilaterally by the management. Our job security is also at stake during the term. Our annual achievement or otherwise of the target will decide whether we are going to continue in the next year or not. Thus, now we feel that the intention of the Management is to get people to work at fixed salary by virtue of using the brand clout of LICI and poor job market situation prevailing in the country. Some SME’s have crossed the age to apply for other Government jobs. Moreover, we are being denied facilities provided to our permanent colleagues, discharging similar duties along with us, like company owned car, petrol allowance, buying insurance at rebate, preventive health check up, free mobile, etc. We are working at maybe 60-70% lower salary than these Branch Managers along with the insecurity of losing our jobs. Thus, we are faced with job insecurity as well as not getting Equal Pay for Equal Work, which we feel is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of India to each worker in the country. This is gross exploitation and against the principles of natural justice, that too in a welfare state like India and within a welfare organisation like LICI, the largest social security provider in Asia. We have only one contention. LICI has been regularly recruiting AAO's who will go on to become AO's, which is the cadre to which we belong. When LICI already has a proven skill force, we SME’s, who are in their 4th year doing a perennial nature of job alongside permanent employees, at its disposal, why is it not regularising us and bestowing us with all benefits akin to permanent employees? Considering our strength of 50 odd employees it is not going to be a big deal for LICI.
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