Consumer Price Index

Consumer Price Index for April 2014 is 242. If it remains the same for next 2 months then DA shall rise by 22 slabs w.e.f. 01.08.2014.

A mischievous act

Certain people with mischievous intent are circulating some false message in NOINO’s name regarding Furniture Advance. In this respect, please note that:

 1. Any office-bearer of NOINO has not sent any such message.

 2. Only if you receive any message from NOINO office-bearer’s cell number, please consider it authentic.

- NOINO Central Committee

Promotion Policy - NOINO writes to management

NOINO today wrote a letter to LIC management on current promotion policy of the Corporation. The letter is reproduced below:

30.04.2014

The Executive Director (Personnel),

L.I.C. of India.

Central Office, Mumbai

Respected Sir,

Re: Promotions and transfers 2014-15

 We have studied the office orders issued by CO for Promotions to the cadres of AO to DM. It seems that the management has decided to displace majority of the officers on promotion. We have been continuously raising this issue at various levels & have been placing our views orally as well as in writing. We have also submitted a comprehensive letter on this issue vide our letter dated 25.8.2012 wherein we have submitted our views on 33 points. At the cost of repetition, we have the following observations to make:-

1. While displacement on promotion in itself should not be a problem, the degree of displacement is the bone of contention. There are some questions which arise from this year’s policy which would be brought out in the following points.
2. The management has taken a unilateral decision while posting the officers, particularly those promoted to ADM cadre in other Zones. Any progressive management would take into confidence the unions & discuss before taking any policy decision. This has not been done.
3. The policy keeps on changing from year to year which keeps the officers on tenterhooks. We have been advocating a codified transfer-promotion policy since long.
4. Whether the current policy benefits the Office or the officer is a debatable issue. Many officers do not accept the promotion due to change of Zone & the vacancies remain unfilled. Thus, it doesn’t benefit the Office.
5. Many officers have waited since long to be considered for promotion. After waiting so long & working sincerely, they are given such postings which don’t help.
6. An argument is usually forwarded by a section of management that exposure is needed for these officers so that in the future they would be more equipped for higher posts. In this matter, we should note that most of the promotee officers are in their 50’s & it is unlikely that in the remaining 10 odd years, they would occupy a very high post. Thus, is there a real need for the so-called exposure?
7. It is observed that in the Central Zone, only one officer has been promoted from the Zone itself. Why such situation has arisen is a matter to be pondered upon. Is it because a lack of long-term planning? Is it because the superiors are not well-acquainted as to how CR’s are written?
8. It is observed that many officers from other Zones are posted to CO departments. Many of them are not happy. It is difficult to concentrate on one’s job when one is away from one’s family (if the family is not in a position to shift). To that extent, their efficiency goes down. A perennial shortage of staff quarters is also created by such postings in Mumbai.
9. What is the logic behind changing Zones? E.g. there would not be much of a language problem when an officer is posted to NCZ from NZ & vice-versa. However, it would definitely act as a barrier when say, an officer is posted on promotion from SCZ to SZ & vice-versa.
10.  The distance of displacement is also an important issue to be considered. When an officer is posted to Nanded(WZ) from Hyderabad(SCZ), he has to travel approximately 270 kms, while an officer posted in the same Zone e.g. from Mumbai to Nagpur has to travel approximately 840 kms. It seems illogical.
11. It should also be noted that many officers have missed promotion though they have put in a lot of sincere efforts.
12. According to our information, following is the percentage of cancellations in promotions for the last 5 years:-

Year	ADM to DM	cancellation		% cancellation
2010	218	10		4.58
2011	207	13		6.28
2012	185	15		8.10
2013	181	59		32.59
2014	203	?		?
Year	AO to ADM		Cancellation		% cancellation
2010	578		81		14
2011	680		138		20.29
2012	411		140		34.06
2013	216		96		44.44
2014	261		?		?

Year	AAO to AO	Cancellation	% cancellation
2010	1173	131	11.16
2011	1196	109	9.11
2012	1153	107	9.28
2013	1074	151	14.05
2014	1362	?	?

As you may observe, the percentage of cancellations is rising, particularly in the AO to ADM cadre. This is also due to the fact that the vacancies have either remained stagnant or have shrunk. A codified transfer-promotion-posting policy in consultation with NOINO is therefore, the need of the hour.

13.  The officers are already feeling frustrated due to:-

a.    Long hours of work without any compensation whatsoever.

b.    Pressure of work due to severe shortage of staff.

c.    Ignominy of performing non-supervisory duties.

d.    Humiliation from a section of superiors on under-performance due to factors beyond control.

Now, after enduring all the above & a long wait for promotion, they have been subjected to this double whammy. The management is also not helping matters by not considering several of our suggestions which would reduce frustration:-

1. Running scales.
2. Grade pay.
3. Special increment if an officer continues in the same cadre without promotion for 10 years as in Central government.

We, therefore, demand:-

1. Immediate reversal of the decision to post the officers to other Zones. (particularly those promoted from AO to ADM)
2. A two-day workshop with NOINO on “Codified Transfer-Promotion-Posting Policy” should be conducted immediately.

We hope for a positive response.

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

Anagha Sant

GS, NOINO

Happy Holi !

होली की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं !

Wish you and your family a very happy HOLI!

INFORMATION SHARING MEETING WITH CHAIRMAN, LIC

As scheduled, the Information sharing meeting was conducted on 13.2.2014. The meeting began with a Joint session consisting of all unions.

JOINT SESSION

         The management was represented by the Chairman Shri S K Roy, all the Managing Directors, ED (Personnel) & Director (MDC). NOINO was represented by Dr. S B Sharan, WP, NOINO; Shri Rajesh Dubey, OS, NOINO; & Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, Resident Secretary, NOINO. The ED (P) initiated the meeting. All  the Managing Directors spoke one by one about their own Departments. Then the Chairman spoke. In his speech, he took stock of the Economic environment in the country & the world. He also lauded the Corporation’s performance in spite of the stiff competition. He also made the following points:-

1.    Biometric system of attendance was being considered to replace the present system of Concurrencia.

2.    Mobility of employees was suggested.

3.    Increase in cash hours by one hour.

4.    The limits of reimbursement of High Cost Protracted Treatment would be revised - with the restriction of two chances likely to be removed & employees could be able to avail up to 90% of the total cost after availing of mediclaim re-imbursement.

5.    The limit of Group Personal Accident policy which at present is 5 lakhs for all cadres is likely to be revised with a structured cover ranging between 10 to 25 lakhs.

        However, contrary to the expectations, he did not make any offer of wage-rise in his speech.

        On behalf of NOINO, Dr. S B Sharan, Working President, NOINO, responded to the Chairman’s and MDs’ speeches. He expressed deep disappointment that no offer of wage-rise had been given. He said that considering the various factors like increasing inflation, increasing work-pressure on Class I Officers due to inadequate staff, continuous late sitting without compensation, an outstanding performance in spite of stiff competition (retaining & improving the market-share), the management should have come out with an offer of substantial wage-rise. He also protested the veiled attack on union work (like union work to be done after office hours etc) & said that unions have a significant role to play in the growth of the Corporation & also in maintaining peace & harmony in the Industry.

          On behalf of NOINO, he demanded that the management come out with immediate & substantial offer of wage-rise. He further suggested that information sharing meetings should be held at least once in six months so that the Management could regularly know the sentiments and mood of the employees and officers.

During the joint session, NOINO was the only union which spoke about Sabbatical Leave/Child care leave, Late Sitting and monetary compensation towards the same, Investment Matters, Health Insurance Policies, LTC, and ways of retaining agency force.

When responses of all unions completed, the Chairman gave his concluding speech. Here he assured that on the basis of come-out of individual discussions with different unions, the management would soon chalk-out some best possible offer on wage revision and would soon call all unions again for discussion over that. He further stated that one more pension option was on priority agenda and management would be following up the matter with the Govt till it got that.

INDIVIDUAL SESSION WITH NOINO

        After the joint session, NOINO had separate talks with the management. In this meeting the management was represented by Shri M.R.Kumar, ED (P), Shri T R Mendiratta, Chief (P), Smt. Aruna Seth, Secretary (P) and other officers from Personnel Deptt. NOINO was represented by Dr. S B Sharan, WP, NOINO; Shri Rajesh Dubey, OS, NOINO; Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, Resident Secretary, NOINO; and Shri Ketan Purandare, EC member, NOINO. The following issues were discussed (It is to be noted that we first raised the issues which we felt that these should be settled before & outside the wage-revision):-

1. One more pension option: - We reiterated our oft-repeated demand of settling this issue before & outside the settlement of charter. While responding to the Unions’ reaction Chairman had said in his concluding speech during Joint Session that Management is concerned on this issue and assured that they would keep following with Government about it till we got it. Here, in Individual Session also, the ED (P) repeated the same version.

2. Anomaly after computer increment: - We once again raised this demand & reminded that SBI had settled this issue in 1996 itself (i.e. 18 years back) by granting one more increment to all the affected employees. We strongly insisted that this matter be sorted out before the settlement of Charter. We pointed out that the anomaly was crystal clear & it was a clear case of injustice to the affected employees.  Management was not positive, however, on our insistence they assured to look into the matter.

3. Excess Wrong Payments – We pointed out that the officers were pressurized to pay the amounts from their own pockets in the name of fixing of responsibility. We suggested Fidelity Insurance or a reserve fund specifically for this purpose can be the other options. Management said that they will check with Audit Department and will check the possibility to exclude cases of wrong payments made due to system errors.

4. Running scales:- We demanded running pay-bands (continuous increment till retirement) to avoid stagnation since promotion avenues were restricted. We also pointed out that we had prepared & submitted such running scales in the Charter submitted by NOINO. Management was not positive on the same.

5. Assured Career Progression(ACP):- Though exactly not connected with wage-revision, we demanded assured career progression to avoid frustration of officers of not getting promotions in time. On this issue the Management differed with us on the definition of Career Progression. As per Management view a holistic career approach is required and is under consideration.

6. Grade Pay:- We demanded that the concept of Grade Pay on the lines of  Sixth Pay commission & RBI to be introduced in LIC. (As submitted in our Charter : AAO -> 3000, AO -> 5000, ADM -> 7000, DM -> 9000, SDM -> 11000, ZM(O) -> 13000,  ZM(S) -> 15000).  This will be a motivating factor for accepting promotion. Management was positive in the matter.

7.  Increment portion as percentage: We demanded 5% of Pay (Basic pay plus Grade pay) as increment instead of fixed amount of increment. This has been implemented by the Sixth Pay commission. Management was not positive on this matter.

After this, we discussed the following issues which are aimed at giving relief (monetary or otherwise) to the Class I Officers:-

A.   PLLI: - You are aware that NOINO has raised this issue continuously. We thanked the management for considering our demand to take into account the credit of premium from alternate channels. We once again raised this issue & stressed the following points for the next year:- a) equal percentage to all b) Simplification of parameters & including those parameters on which the employees have control  c) Current basic to be counted for calculation.  Management responded that the scheme stands already notified with wage revision of 2007 and that these points will be given due consideration in wage revision for 2012.

B.   Revision in LTC rules and Encashment of LTC: - We repeated our demand to simplify LTC rules; allow LTC encashment; allow air-travel to all Class I Officers. Management was positive on this issue and informed that this may take some time.

C.   Sabbatical/Child care leave for women employees: - We again raised this demand for sabbatical/child care leave for women employees & said that the banks/central government had already introduced this leave much earlier. We demanded that this leave should be introduced at the earliest in LIC after proper discussions & requisite modifications. ED (P) informed that Chairman had already taken note of this issue put by NOINO during joint session.

D.   Late sitting/Security of employees:- We urged the management to give a serious thought to the whole issue of late sitting & most importantly the security of female officers & their safe transit to their respective homes. We also demanded monetary compensation for late sitting. Management was positive in the matter of security and safe transit of female employees/officers.

E.   Recruitment in Class III: - We once again raised this demand. We reiterated that the Class I Officers were under tremendous pressure due to lack of staff as they had to perform non-supervisory duties. Management responded that this will be considered only after the obstacle of pending legal litigation is removed.

F.    Technical allowances for Class I Officers having professional qualifications: - We once again raised this issue. Management was not positive in the matter. However, they stated that allowance for exams cleared from Insurance Institute of India and Actuarial Institute can be given consideration.

G.   Election duty:- We thanked the management for accepting our demands of appointing nodal officers & issuing uniform instructions. However, we said that the number of employees to be spared should be decided by us. The EC officials were pressurizing the nodal officers in some divisions to release at least 25% employees. It is pertinent to note that nowhere a specific percentage has been mentioned in the Mumbai High Court Judgement of 2009. Management noted our points.

H.   Granting of Metro status to Pune & considering Panvel as an agglomeration of Mumbai & treating it as an “A” class city: - We raised this issue again. Management told that they would check with Government authorities about the changes in population and will then consider the demand.

We asked the management whether there was any proposal of furniture advance/loan. The Management clarified that this was only a rumor.

Wage-revision & FDI – NOINO visits New Delhi

NOINO DELEGATION VISITS DELHI TO BREAK DEADLOCK ON WAGE-REVISION & TO OPPOSE INCREASE IN FDI IN INSURANCE

·      MEETS MINISTER OF FINANCE (State) & SECRETARY (Financial Services)

·      ALSO MEETS LEADERS OF OPPOSITION

·      TALKS ON WAGE-REVISION EXPECTED SHORTLY

      The Insurance employees are concerned about a number of issues. The prime concern is, however, regarding the pending wage-revision & the proposed move of the UPA government to increase the FDI in Insurance from 26% to 49%. NOINO has been at the forefront both in raising the wage-revision issue as well as in opposing the proposed move of increasing FDI in Insurance.

      The situation with respect to the wage-revision is particularly disappointing with over a year gone by without commencement of talks. With a view to break the deadlock on this issue as well as to make further efforts to oppose the proposed increase in FDI in Insurance, NOINO decided to take this issue once again with the Government as well as the bureaucracy.

Hence a NOINO delegation led by Shri Prakash Javadekar, President, NOINO (MP, Rajya Sabha) & consisting of Dr S.B.Sharan, Working President; Smt. Anagha Sant, General Secretary; Shri Dattaraj Prabhukhanolkar, Resident Secretary; Shri Rajesh Dubey, Organizing Secretary; and Shri Ganesh Kamath, Chief Advisor camped in Delhi for this purpose.

.

The following four meetings took place:

MEETING WITH SECRETARY, FINANCIAL SERVICES—9.15 AM

  

            The NOINO delegation met Shri Rajeev Takru, Secretary, Financial Services, on 9.12.2013 at 9.15 a.m. for initiation of talks on wage-revision in LIC of India.

             We demanded immediate initiation of talks on wage revision in LIC. We informed him that NOINO had already submitted its Charter of Demands on 23^rd July 2012 itself i.e. eight days before it became due. All other unions also subsequently submitted their Charter of Demands but the talks did not start yet. We pointed out that wage revision in Banks became due after that of in LIC but 3 rounds of talks already took place in Banks and the 4^th one was scheduled for 14^th December, whereas in LIC, it did not even start.

          We also pointed out that our talks were always linked with wage revision of banking industry whereas our nature of work was quite different from that of Banks. We insisted that the wage revision in our industry should be as per our (i.e. LIC) performance and it should not have any linkage with Bank. Shri Takru was very positive on these points and immediately gave instructions for preparing preliminary note for wage revision matters at the earliest. We also handed over a Memorandum to Shri Takru in this regard.

MEETING WITH ARUN JAITLEY—12.30 PM

           The NOINO delegation met Shri Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha on the same day at 12.30 p.m. We reiterated our stiff opposition to any proposed increase in FDI in Insurance. Shri Jaitley appreciated the wonderful performance of LIC & assured all support to our cause. We also submitted a memorandum to him in this regard.

MEETING WITH SUSHMA SWARAJ-12.45 PM

            The NOINO delegation then met Smt Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha at 12.45 p.m. We again stressed our opposition to any increase in FDI in Insurance. Smt Swaraj was very positive & said that the BJP had already told the FM that they would oppose any such move to increase FDI in Insurance. Here too, we submitted a memorandum to her.

           We also met Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and other BJP MP’s in this regard. They too, assured support to our cause.

MEETING WITH NAMO NARAYAN MEENA - 1.40 PM

          The NOINO delegation then met Shri Namo Narayan Meena, Minister of Finance (State) at 1.40 p.m.  We reiterated all the points as discussed in the meeting with Shri Takru such as immediate commencement of talks on wage-revision/wage-rise according to our performance over the years (& not tagging with the Banking industry etc). Shri Meena was very positive & assured that he would be talking to the LIC management immediately & would ask them to take steps to initiate the talks on wage-revision shortly.

NOINO expects the talks on wage-revision to commence shortly. We also expect that the passage of the proposed Bill to increase FDI in Insurance from 26% to 49% would be difficult in the light of the opposition from the principal opposition party.