NOINO EZ meets RM(P&IR), EZ

A delegation of NOINO Eastern Zone consisting of Shri P.K.Dey, Zonal Secretary; Shri B.B.Mondal, Zonal Treasurer and Shri Prodip Dutta, Divl Secretary, KMDO-I met the RM(P&IR), EZ Shri Samir Kr Das on 13.10.2011. Shri Piyush Chakraborty, Secretary(P&IR) was also present during the meeting.

Following matters were discussed in the meeting:

1.     Inter-Division transfer of AAO’s: NOINO EZ requested to continue the practice of inter-division transfer of AAO’s within the Zone in 2 years to which the management agreed subject to availability of vacancy.

2.     Inter-Zone transfer of AAO’s: When enquired, the RM(P&IR) informed the delegation that cases of all such AAO’s who had completed 3 years in the Zone were being considered for their requests and related notes had already been put up before the competent authority.

3.     Posting of officers on promotion: NOINO EZ pointed out that there were officers who were never transferred-out, there were also officers who were transferred-out on lesser occasions, and also there were officers who got posted outside his/her desired place on every occasion of promotion. NOINO EZ demanded uniformity in posting on promotion and requested to give preference of choice-postings to the officers who were earlier posted outside on more no. of occasions than the fellow ones.

The RM assured to take positive steps in this regard.

4.     Allotment of staff quarters: NOINO EZ demanded transparency in allotment of staff-quarters and suggested to put relevant data related to allotment of staff-quarters on the Zone’s intranet site.

The RM(P&IR) assured to convey the feelings of the Organization to the concerned department.

Besides above issues, some more miscellaneous matters like problems arising due to transfer of housing-loan portfolio to HFL; delay in AAO promotion-round and others were also discussed.

Employees’ Housing Loan - the Maharally effect

    The effect of Maharally on 12.10.11 at Yogakshem by NOINO/NOIW has begun to tell. The management issued a circular yesterday i.e. on 13.10.11(dated back as 11.10.11 for obvious reasons) that one more final option is being given to the employees to convert their past loans to Employees Housing Loan scheme. The option is to be exercised by 31.12.11. There are some problems in this circular too(which we will take up) as the onus seems to be solely on the employee himself for everything, but at least about two months period has been given to convert these loans. The circular reference is CO/L&HPF/736/2011-12.

    NOINO/NOIW will continue to follow-up the pending issues.

NOINO news-bulletin – October 2011 released

NOINO news-bulletin for the month of October 2011 stands released. Anyone, who has not received it, may kindly contact his/her Zonal/Divisional Secretary to get it.

Maharally unexpectedly successful

         As decided earlier, a Maharally was organized by NOINO & NOIW on 12^th October 2011 at Yogakshem to focus on the pending issues of the employees/officers as well as to highlight the inability of the management to address these issues for a long time.  The Maharally exceeded all expectations. At 1.30 hordes of employees/officers descended on Yogakshem to participate in the rally. More than 1000 employees/officers indulged in robust slogan-shouting. The whole Yogakshem area was jam-packed.

         Shri Brahmesh Hardikar, Secretary, NOIW welcomed all & highlighted the issues which NOINO/NOIW were focusing on viz. One more pension option, Problems in Housing loan, Problems after EFEAP implementation, 6% PLLI to all, Cashier problems in branches etc.

         Shri Atul Deshpande, GS, NOIW gave an intense & fiery speech. He stated that due to the transfer of the staff housing loan portfolio to LIC HFL, the employees were aggrieved on various problems. He also stated that the repayment method adopted by LIC HFL was erroneous & consequently, the employees had to pay much more than what they would have paid had the portfolio been with LIC itself. He quoted many figures to prove his point. He said that on an average if 50000 employees availed of loan of 12 lakhs, then together we would be paying about 3000 crores more to HFL. In this background, he charged that there were reasons to believe that a section of management deliberately transferred the portfolio to HFL without taking the unions into confidence. He also said that NOIW demanded CBI enquiry in this matter. He also demanded that the Housing loan portfolio be brought back to LIC.

         On the issue of PLLI, Shri Deshpande said that the management was adopting the ‘Divide & rule’ policy by granting different percentages of PLLI to different units & demanded uniform 6% PLLI to all. He also reiterated the demand of NOIW/NOINO that total Income should be the only parameter on which the PLLI should be based.

        Shri Deshpande also expressed displeasure on the delay in Class IV recruitment & criticized the management for not meeting the deadline set by the court. He also demanded that the management should absorb all the temporary Class IV staff who have worked for even less than 5 years. Shri Deshpande warned the management of an intensified stir if it failed to meet the employees’ demands. Everybody was enthralled by his straightforward style of speech.

        Thereafter Shri Ganesh Kamath, GS, NOINO launched an all-out attack on the inefficiency, lack of transparency & the unilateralism of the management. In his usual acerbic style of speech laced with satire & interspersed with humour, he went hammer & tongs at the dual standards of the management which expects the lower management & the employees to be proactive but inordinately delays the decisions pertaining to the issues of the employees. He quoted several examples to buttress his arguments.

         He said that the management did not bother to have discussions with the unions since 19^th July 2010. He lamented the lack of progress on the pension option issue & said that the management was singing a different tune this year. He expressed the anguish of the employees on the issue of Housing loan issue where they felt left in the lurch due to the unilateral decision of the management to transfer the portfolio to LIC HFL.  He exposed the hollowness of the management’s claims that the EFEAP problems have been solved by quoting several examples. He said that while several crores of rupees were showered on WIPRO which miserably failed in the implementation, it conveniently ignored the employees who were toiling day & night for EFEAP implementation without any extra remuneration.

         Shri Kamath also questioned as to why the management was not making the ‘Statement of Intent’ (of PLLI) public. He also demanded that the parameters of PLLI should be made public before the commencement of financial year & not after that. Shri Kamath also pointed out that NOINO/NOIW had suggested two solutions to overcome the problem of paucity of cashiers,  viz. recruitment of cashiers (exclusively as cashiers & not as assistant-cum-cashiers) & creating a new cadre between Assistant & HGA to get the benefit on promotion. Shri Kamath came down heavily on the ill-treatment of junior marketing officials by the senior officials & demanded that the rude behaviour be stopped forthwith. He also quoted other examples like delay in AAO notification, delay in results of Direct recruit officers etc. He also pointed out that even the intercoms of the prestigious Yogakshem were out of order for more than 3 months. Shri Kamath exhorted the management to take the unions into confidence on policy decisions & take timely steps to arrest the slide.

        Shri Manish Patankar, President, NOINO, Mumbai unit proposed the vote of thanks. The impact of the meeting was seen among the employees who were seen discussing animatedly about the meeting & the issues raised in it even long after the meeting was over.

Shri Brahmesh Hardikar, Secretary, NOIW initiating the Maharally

Shri Ganesh Kamath, General Secretary, NOINO addressing the gathering

Participants at Maharally

Shri Manish Patankar, President, NOINO, Mumbai Unit saying thanks

Board clears PLLI

LIC Board cleared the payment of PLLI to the employees of the Corporation for the financial year 2010-2011 in its meeting held today. The clearance has been made for minimum 2% at Corporate level. If performance of any particular office does not qualify for 2%, then minimum 1% will be paid to the employees of that particular office. If performance of any office qualifies for more than 2%, they will be paid >2%.

Tribute to Steve Jobs by Prakash Javadekar

Dear friends,

Three apples which changed the world:

First apple - which brought Adam and Eve together.

Second apple - which Newton saw and developed concept of gravity.

Third apple - which Steve Jobs developed and changed the way we live.

Thank you Steve, will not forget you.

Yours truly,

Prakash Javadekar,
President, NOINO
Member of Parliament &
National Spokesperson, BJP.

October 2011 – membership drive month

         On the auspicious day of Navami of Shardiya Navratra NOINO has rolled out the month of membership-drive. It starts today, the Navami of Ashwin Navratra i.e. 5^th of October 2011 and continues till 31^st October 2011.

         NOINO has decided to contact each and every non-member Class-I officer of LIC of India during this period. Besides verbal request, they (non-member officers) will be handed-over a request letter in hard copy along with a membership-form.

         The request letter which is to be handed-over in hard copy is reproduced below. The membership-form is also being reproduced for the convenience.

5^th October 2011

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Dear friend,

We are ‘National Organization of Insurance Officers’ popularly known as “NOINO”. We started working for the betterment of Class-I officers of LIC of India since 2002. We are affiliated to the largest Trade Union Organization of India i.e. BMS (Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh) and, as such, have an ideological base. Also, we have support of almost 1 crore workforce through BMS’ different affiliates in all the industries and almost all the offices in India.

Prior to 2002 it was seriously being felt that the causes of Class-I officers in LIC were not being represented before the management at all, not to talk about achieving it. Whatever Class-III & Class-IV were being given, on the basis of it, Class-I were also being paid something. The Class-I officers were in a desperate plight. And, as such, NOINO was started.

Since its formation, NOINO is continuously striving for the betterment of Class-I officers. Let us have a brief look what we achieved:

1.      GI scheme 2004: This was our first breakthrough. We were able to get it implemented for all classes of employees, and, due to which, the premium amount was significantly lowered.

2.      Wage revision 2002 (effected in 2005): NOINO was the lone ranger in Class I which successfully fought the battle after the erstwhile so-called majority Class I association agreed to 12% increase & the officers got about 2.8% more rise.

3.      Compensation on ULIP conversion: Due to our efforts Class-I were paid compensation for extra works beyond office-hours for the first time in 50 years.

4.      Election Duty: The dogged pursuit of the Election duty issue by NOINO led to the path-breaking verdict of Mumbai High Court which forced the Election Commission to restrict themselves from deputing LIC officers and employees in election duty.

5.      Circular 144: The draconian condition of age limit for certain marketing posts (notoriously referred to as Circular no. 144) was successfully fought back by NOINO by organizing a huge congregation of officers on 8^th May 2006. Due to this lot of officers were able to compete & get promotions which otherwise they would not have got.

6.      Ace competition 2009: The management went back on its word & drastically reduced the award money. NOINO fought this issue fiercely & compelled the management to revise the award money not once, but twice.

7.      Jeevan Aastha Plan: Successfully fought back the extension of Plan up to Republic Day, a national holiday giving much needed relief to the branch marketing officials who had toiled continuously for more than 45 days prior to the extension.

8.      Back-up issue: NOINO’s uniqueness lies in its innovativeness & its quest to excel. Two years back we conducted a survey on the issue of back-up from 270 branches across six Zones. We submitted a comprehensive 12 page report consisting of our findings, analysis & solutions. One of the solutions suggested was centralized back-up to avoid late-sitting. This was accepted by the management & after the implementation of EFEAP, the branches have become back-up free.

9.      Tax on perks: The matter of tax on perquisites particularly for those staying in staff quarters was pending in the courts for several years. We suggested a practical solution, i.e. the Corporation should bear the tax on perks. We augmented our argument with similar examples in other financial institutions. Due to our consistent follow-up, the management agreed to bear tax on perks. Several employees were benefited due to this.

10. Wage revision 2007 (effected in 2010): We were the only Organization among all classes of employees / officers who followed-up the matter with Finance Ministry and were able to convince the authorities at all levels to pay a better wage than that of Banks - a major breakthrough in the history of the Corporation.

11. Spl conveyance allowance to PH: Got increased the spl conveyance allowance to physically handicapped employees / officers.

12. Housing Loan solution: We suggested the immediate solution for housing-loan deduction problems in March 2011 which was accepted by the management in toto and employees / officers were given great relief as till then, even deductions of installments were not being effected.

Besides above, there are many, which, if we include, the list will be very long and exhaustive. The above ones are only significant ones. We only wish to add that we are very sincerely following-up all the issues which Class-I officers of LIC face in their day-to-day life and genuinely need for a respectful survival.

Now, if you think that we are genuinely doing something for the betterment of Class-I officers of LIC of India, we request you to please join the Organization (NOINO) and strengthen it so that we may do something more better.

The membership-form is enclosed, herewith. We request you to please return it to us duly filled-in along with the admission-fee and the subscription-fee of (total) Rs.205/-.

Thanking you for your sustained support to us,

Yours brotherly,

Ganesh Kamath

GS, NOINO

Encl.: Membership form.

Any Class-I officer who is not yet our member but wishes to be; and, due to any reasons what-so-ever, could not be contacted by our activists, may download the membership-form given above, take a print-out, fill in and send it to our national headquarters address (as given on the form) with a DD of Rs.250/-. The DD will be in favour of “National Organization of Insurance Officers” and payable at Pune (as our Central Committee’s account is being maintained at Pune).

CVC allows finance ministry to select LIC chairman

    Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the country’s largest investment institution, may finally get to see a new chairman as the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has allowed the finance ministry to go ahead with the selection process. The ministry had put the selection on hold pending a report from the CVC, which is investigating corruption charges against two contenders for the top post.

    The CVC has told the selection panel headed by the Finance Secretary RS Gujral that it would take some time to complete its inquiry against former chairman TS Vijayan and managing director Thomas Mathew T. It has said that the ministry in the meanwhile can seek clearance from the LIC’s central vigilance officer on all the potential candidates and proceed with the selection process.

    "CVC has not cited any time frame and has asked the selection committee to finalise a candidate and then seek its clearance," a member of the selection committee said requesting anonymity.

    LIC has been without a chairman since May when the government refused to grant an extension to Vijayan.

    The selection committee, which has met twice so far, will take a final decision next month. The committee includes J Hari Narayan and CS Rao, the current and former chiefs of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

    CVC had recommended a probe by the CBI into the investments made by LIC.

    In July, the CBI cleared both Vijayan’s and Mathew’s names in the LIC Housing Finance scam.

    CVC’s go ahead could put Vijayan and Mathew back in the race for the top post, but officials say they are unlikely to find support in the selection committee.

    The other LIC officials in the fray are acting chairman DK Mehrotra, executive director in-charge of international operations Sushobhan Sarkar and executive director (underwriting and re-insurance) TT Mathew.

(Source: A well-wisher of NOINO)

Reasons for Maharally at Yogakshema on 12th Oct.

                  As all of us are aware, there has been unrest among employees regarding the pending issues for a variety of reasons. A dispassionate analysis reveals the following reasons:-

1. Delay in taking decisions: - The decision making process is either very slow or no decision has been taken. Consider the following:-
1. One more pension option.
2. Recruitment of Class III to ease the workload.
3. PLLI.
4. Anomalies in successive wage revisions.
5. The AAO notification was inordinately delayed this year.
6. Expected increase in Meal Coupons & Tea-Coffee re-imbursement(to officers)
7. No end in sight to the impasse on the paucity of cashiers.
8. No monetary compensation for those involved in EFEAP implementation after office-hours.
2. Problems in implementation of decisions:- Following are classic examples:-
1. Huge problems in the Staff Housing loan portfolio after being transferred to LIC HFL.
2. EFEAP implementation.
3. Recruitment of Class IV.
3. Unilateralism & Lack of transparency on the part of management:-
1. Transferring the Housing loan portfolio to LIC HFL without consulting the unions.
2. ‘Statement of Intent’ of PLLI not made public.
3. No Information sharing meeting since 19^th July 2010.

              Whatever be the reasons, the employees/officers all over the country are facing the music & the ire of the policyholders & agents due to some of the above issues. The workload has increased manifold & there has been no commensurate monetary compensation for the same.

            NOINO & NOIW have, therefore, decided to highlight these issues through a massive demonstration at Yogakshema on 12^th October 2011 during lunch hours. The main focus will be on the issues of one more pension option, problems in Housing loan, & problems in EFEAP implementation. The other issues mentioned above will also be highlighted. We appeal to all employees/officers to join the demonstration in huge numbers & strengthen the movement.

Officers join NOINO en masse at Chandigarh

The steady trickle of officers joining NOINO has turned into a deluge now. Being inspired by NOINO’s relentless pursuit of giving the Class-I Officers their deserved dues, today i.e. on 1st October 2011, 101 officers of Chandigarh Division (North Zone) joined NOINO en masse. NOINO is now in absolute majority in Chandigarh with 144 members on roll. Our heartiest congratulations to the Chandigarh Divisional Committee of NOINO! The team deserves high praise for its tireless efforts & working single-mindedly to strengthen NOINO. The NOINO NZ team also deserves compliments.