Hanumajjayanti

Atulitbaldhamam hemshailabhdeham danujwankrishanum gyaninamagraganyam!
Sakalgunanidhanam vanaranamdhisham raghupatipriyabhaktam vatjatam namami!!

Chaitra Purnima. Every year we celebrate Hanuman Jayanti i.e. Birthday of Lord Hanuman this day.
He is one of the eight immortals on this earth. He is ardent devotee of Lord Ram and popularly known as 'Bhaktraj Hanuman'. He played vital role in victory of Lord Ram over asur Ravan.

Aise bhakt Hanuman ke janm din par apko hardik badhai!

Notice: Inter-Division/Inter-Zone(AAOs only) transfer

All NOINO office-bearers / members under NZ:

Officers who seek Inter-Division(AO & ADM)/Inter-Zone(AAOs only) transfers i.e. transfers to be effected by North Zonal Office, and wish that NOINO, NZ should follow-up their cases, are requested to furnish following details to us latest by 1.30pm on 27.03.2010 i.e. Saturday:

1. Name:
 2. Designation:
 3. SR No.:
 4. Present place of posting:
 (Branch/Deptt under Division)
 5. Date of joining at present place:
6. Transfer seeking for:
 7. Reason for transfer (in brief):
 8. NOINO member since:
 9. Contact(Mobile) No.:
 10. Any other relevant fact you
 wish to mention:

If possible, please attach a soft-copy of your representation while furnishing above facts.

S.B.Sharan, GS,
NOINO, NZ.

Ramnavami

Bhae pragat kripala dindayala Kausalya hitkari !
Harashit mahatari muni man hari adbhut roop bichari !!

Chaitra Shukla 9. Every year we celebrate Ramnavami this day.
In the midday of this date, in Tretayuga, Prabhu Shri Ram took birth. He is 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, by His own wishes, to free the earth (bhumandal) from the excesses of asura Ravan. He is symbol of a strong character. His full story can be had from the epics Balmiki's Ramayan / Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas.

Shri Ram Janmotsav ki hardik badhai !
Prabhu Shri Ram apka charitra ujjwal banayein !!

Ramnavami wishes

All india Working President's:

Ravan evam anya Asuro par vijay pakar Bharat ko adharm se mukti dilane wale PRABHU RAMCHANDRA JI ke janmdivas RAMNAVAMI ke suavasar par hardik badhaiya!

SUDHAKAR INGOLE

Shaheed BHAGATH SINGH, RAJGURU & SUKHDEV

On this day in 1931, in the morning time, legendary BHAGATH SINGH, RAJGURU & SUKHDEV were hanged to their deaths. But today we don't even remember their names.
We only celebrate Chocolate day, Hug day, Valentine day, etc.
We salute their sacrifice..Jai Hind!

Courtesy: Shri Upesh Kumar, LICI, Rewari Br. (Delhi DO-III).

Joint front submits letter to Chairman

A delegation of joint front leaders comprising of Shri Ganesh Kamath (NOINO),B.R. Hardikar (NOIW); Sharad Nanal, (AIIEA), JaiPrakash, Madhav Shinde (Both NFIFWI), Satish Jaokar (All India Life), Prakash Sanas (BVKS ) & Ganesh Jamsandekar (Cl. IV Union) met the Chairman, L.I.C. of India today morning at 10.15 and handed over the Letter signed by all the above unions and informed him the decision of the joint front on the issue of Wage Revision and appealed the LIC Management to take steps towards delivering the assurance of a Satisfactory Wage Settlement to all LIC Employees.

Please find below two documents. One is the letter addressed to the Chairman & the other one is the circular addressed to the officers / employees.

Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO.

Joint front - letter to Chairman

Camp: Mumbai
Date: 20th March 2010

The Chairman,
L.I.C. of India,
Central Office,
Mumbai.
----------- 

Dear Sir,

Wage Revision
------------------

This has reference to the meetings held by you with the representatives of our Unions / Associations on March 19 and 20, 2010 on the issue of wage revision. In these meetings, you explained about the efforts being made by LIC for a satisfactory wage settlement.

The Managing Director too held discussions with us and he also explained the efforts made in the direction towards a satisfactory wage-settlement. He also made an appeal to the Unions / Associations to reconsider the online agitation. Subsequently, the Managing Director has also written a letter of date requesting reconsideration of our struggle in view of the efforts being made by LIC for a “satisfactory wage settlement”.

We expressed our deep resentment over the delay in settling the genuine demand of a “satisfactory wage settlement” and attempts to link the wage revision to the external developments. We made it clear that wage revision in LIC has to be on the basis of the strength of LIC and its total premium income. We said that the unions were compelled to take to the path of agitation in the absence of any visible efforts to settle the wage demand early on the basis of the premium income of LIC.

Today the joint meeting of the unions took place at Mumbai to review the developments. The unanimous perception of the unions is that not enough was done by LIC towards early settlements of Wage demand. The present round of discussion was also called under the pressure of the agitation but without any improved offer.

The meeting was of the firm opinion that if the LIC has emerged as a super performer in the era of competition, it is singularly because of the devotion, hard work and commitment of all sections of the employees and officers. The employees and officers after exhausting all peaceful avenues to secure justice were forced to resort to agitation.

However, considering the assurance for satisfactory wage revision and the appeal made by you and the Managing Director to reconsider the agitation and give some more time to work for a satisfactory wage settlement, the Unions have decided to defer the 31st March 2010 strike and other agitational programmes.

Having taken this decision in the interest of the institution, the unions expect that the Chairman and his team will speed up efforts to honour the commitment for a satisfactory wage settlement on the strength of LIC at the earliest. We are sure that you will appreciate the goodwill of the employees and take all steps to meet the legitimate aspirations of the employees for early and promised “satisfactory wage settlement”.

Sd/-
General Secretary,
National Federation of Insurance Field Workers of India (NFIFWI)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
All India Insurance Employees’ Association (AIIEA)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
All India Life Insurance Employees’ Association (AILIEA)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
All India National Life Insurance Employees’ Federation (INTUC)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
Akhil Bhartiya LIC Chaturth Shreni Karmachari Sanghtana (Cl.IV – INTUC)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
Bhartiya Vima Karmachari Sena (BVKS)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
National Organisation of Insurance Officers (NOINO-BMS)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
National Organisation of Insurance Workers (NOIW-BMS)

Joint front - letter to officers / employees

Camp Mumbai
Date: 20th March 2010

To all the employees and Officers of LIC

Dear Friends,

Wage Revision

The Chairman of LIC held discussions with the unions/associations during 19th and 20th March 2010 and informed about the efforts being made to ensure a satisfactory wage revision to the employees and Officers. During these discussions he also appealed to the unions for withdrawal of the agitational programme.

The Managing Director too held discussions with the unions and they also explained the efforts in the direction towards a satisfactory wage settlement. An appeal was also made by the Managing Director to the Unions / Associations to reconsider their ongoing agitation. Subsequently, the Managing Director also wrote a letter of date requesting for review of the agitational programme of employees in view of the efforts being made by LIC for a satisfactory wage settlement.

We expressed our deep resentment over the delay in settling the genuine demand of a satisfactory wage settlement and the attempt to link the wage revision to the developments in other financial institutions. We made it clear that the offer of 17.5% was not acceptable to us and that wage revision in LIC has to be on the basis of the strength of LIC and the total premium income. We said that the Unions were compelled to take to the path of agitation in the absence of any visible efforts to settle the wage revision demand early on the basis of the premium income of LIC.

Today the joint meeting of the unions took place at Mumbai to review the developments. The unanimous opinion of the unions was that the present round of discussion was called under the pressure of the agitation.

The meeting was of the firm opinion that if the LIC has emerged as a super performer in the era of competition, it is singularly because of devotion , hard work and commitment of all sections of the employees and Officers. The employees and Officers after exhausting all powerful avenues to secure justice were forced to resort to agitation.

However, considering the appeal made by the Chairman and the Managing Director to review the agitational programme and give some more time to the management to work for a satisfactory wage settlement, the Unions have decided to defer the present agitational programme.

Having taken this decision in the interests of the institution, the unions expect that the Chairman and the team will speed up efforts to honour the commitment on a satisfactory wage settlement on the strength of LIC at the earliest. The joint meeting also decided that the joint front shall be sustained and strengthened to ensure a good wage revision which the employees and Officers deserve.

Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
General Secretary,
National Federation of Insurance Field Workers of India (NFIFWI)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
All India Insurance Employees’ Association (AIIEA)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
All India Life Insurance Employees’ Association (AILIEA)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
All India National Life Insurance Employees’ Federation (INTUC)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
Akhil Bhartiya LIC Chaturth Shreni Karmachari Sanghtana (Cl.IV – INTUC)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
Bhartiya Vima Karmachari Sena (BVKS)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
National Organisation of Insurance Officers (NOINO-BMS)
Sd/-
General Secretary,
National Organisation of Insurance Workers (NOIW-BMS)

Joint front agitation deferred - detailed circular

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF INSURANCE OFFICERS
(Affiliated to B.M.S.)
President: Shri Prakash Javadekar, MP, Rajyasabha
Working President: - Shri Sudhakar Ingole
Gen. Secretary: - Shri Ganesh Kamath.

22.3.2010.

JOINT FRONT DEFERS AGITATION AFTER WRITTEN ASSURANCE FROM MANAGEMENT FOR SATISFACTORY WAGE REVISION

The Joint front has decided to defer/postpone its programme of agitation. This is due to the following reasons:-

1. The Joint front was on an agitational path for the last few months. It started with demonstrations, walkout & one-day strikes. It started having its desired effect. The “NO extra co-operation “program was the last nail in the coffin of those desirous of avoiding a satisfactory wage-revision. The management was forced to invite the unions for discussions.
 2. Till now, you may recall that in all previous charters, the agitation of 1 day-strike on 31st March would bring the desired effect. The difference this time is that the agitation started earlier than that & especially the “No-extra co-operation” programme has brought the desired effect prior to 31st March itself instead of afterwards as was the case in previous charters.
 3. The Chairman & MD assured the joint front unions that they had definitely taken into account the sentiments of the employees & the officers that the present offer of 17.5% was not satisfactory & they were making all out efforts to go beyond that & that they were confident of doing the same.
 4. However, we were not just satisfied with their oral assurances. The management then taking into the sentiments of the joint front unions gave a letter to that effect. Thus, it is for the first time in the history of LIC that management has given a written assurance.
 5. The management admitted that the agitation of the joint front was turning out to be very effective & it was having its effect on the new business which would mean that it could have benefited the private insurance companies. The objective of the joint front was never to hurt the institution but to make the management & the government see its view point.
 6. Till now, the government & the management have always talked about percentage wage-rise in LIC (say 15% or 17.5%) linking it with other financial institutions (like the banks). The joint front has been successful in bringing the focus to linking our wage-rise to Total Premium Income. The management has agreed to our sentiments in this regard also & we are confident that the government will also agree to it. Once this happens, it will lay the path to the automatic de-linking of our Charter with banks. This would be a historic achievement which we are striving for.

The joint front discussed all the pros & cons of the issues, had thread-bare discussions for two days & then decided to defer the agitation for the time-being. The joint front will submit a letter to the Chairman that the management should reciprocate the goodwill gesture by the unions by honouring their commitment of satisfactory wage-revision at the earliest. The Joint front is committed to the employees & officers & assures that we will not rest till we get a satisfactory wage-revision.

Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO

Joint-front decision

SMS recd from GS:
Jt frt 2day decided 2 suspend agitation program including 1 day strike in response 2 the commitment of the chairman/MD for a satisfactory wage revision & their appeal to jt frt for withdrawl of agitation.
Ganesh Kamath

Wage talks - detailed circular

19.3.2010.

DISCUSSIONS WITH MANAGEMENT ON 19TH MARCH 2010

As scheduled, the discussions with management were held on 19th March 2010. This time, there was no joint session & hence it was clear that there would be no further offer beyond 17.5%. The discussions were held in the chamber of Managing Director Shri A K Dasgupta. The management was represented by MD Shri Dasgupta, ED (Personnel), Smt D Vijayalakshmi & the Chief (Personnel), Shri Rajkumar. NOINO was represented by Shri Ganesh Kamath, GS, NOINO; Shri Sudhakar Ingole, WP, NOINO; Shri Kashinath Terwadkar, EC member, NOINO (Kolhapur) & Shri Manish Patankar, Jt Secy, NOINO, WZ.
Shri Dasgupta in his address said that the management had invited the unions to basically listen to the suggestions from the unions on the charter & appeal them to withdraw the agitation. He also said that the management was trying its best to get the best deal for LIC employees. However, the matters on the bank front were moving slowly & hence if we were to get a better deal then it was imperative to know what is finalized in the banking industry.
Shri Ganesh Kamath responded by saying that since NOINO was a part of a joint front the decision in the matter of agitation would be taken by the joint front in a joint meeting. He also protested the fact that there was no joint session & no renewed offer. He said that the officers & employees were frustrated & were in a militant mood.
As far as the suggestions regarding charter were concerned we gave the following suggestions:-
Instead of harping on the percentage rise (17.5% or above), we suggested that the wage-rise should be linked to the Total Premium Income. E.g. during the last charter the total wages were 6.02% of the TPI. The international standards also confirm to about 6%. Even if the expense ratio is reduced to say 4% we would get substantial wage-rise (much more than 17.5%).
The scales should be drawn in such a manner (we have given a certain figure for the topmost cadre) that the officer on the lowest rung would also get more than 17.5%.
We reiterated that running scales should be granted. This would at once ensure that the frustration of missing promotion is reduced & on the other hand it would camouflage the cost.
We reiterated our demand for Navratna status to ensure financial autonomy to a certain extent.

We also once again raised the issue of Tax on Perquisites & repeated our demand made on 18th February & 17th March that LIC should bear the tax on perquisites relating to staff quarters, newspaper & car under Scheme VI. The MD noted all our points & agreed to look into these suggestions sympathetically. In this meeting we also drew the attention to the fact that LIC employees were being drafted for Census duty & urged the management to take necessary steps in the matter.

NOINO also had an interaction with the Chairman Shri T S Vijayan in the evening. Almost the same pattern as in the individual discussions was repeated in this interaction. The Chairman said that he was expecting that there was a possibility of going further in the wage-rise issue but he said that the employees would have to wait a little longer & appealed to withdraw the agitation. On the issue of bearing the tax on perquisites, he said that he would definitely look into the matter. We repeated our position taken in our individual discussions.

The Joint front would be meeting today i.e. 19th March at 9.00 pm to finalise its strategy.

Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO.

Wage-talks at 11:30 hrs on 19th March.

SMS received from GS:

As expectd, mgt didnt give any offer 2day & askd fr our sugestions. NOINO protested this & gave sugestions on how 2 go beyond 17.5%. Mail follows.
Ganesh Kamath.

See, where they stand..

We furnish below the All India strike figures (Zone-wise) of recent 2 dates, call for which was given by the other Class-I Organization i.e. Class-I Federation. The downward trend is clearly visible.

The figures given are in following orders:

Zone / 18th Feb fig. / 8th Mar fig. / Reduction

NZ / 74% / 56% / -18%

CZ / 55% / 54% / -1%

NCZ / 50% / 50% / 0%

EZ / 80% / 57% / -23%

ECZ / 91% / 76% / -15%

SZ / 84% / 78% / -6%

SCZ / 86% / 78% / -8%

WZ+CO / 30% / 25% / -5%

Total / 65% / 56% / -9%

In Mumbai divisions out of 932 officers, 5 officers went on strike. In Western Zonal Office out of 233 only 1 went on strike. In Central Office out of 806, 28 officers went on strike.

S.B.Sharan, GS,
NOINO, NZ.

Tax on Perquisites

SBI will bear tax on perquisites-NOINO reiterates demand to do the same in LIC.

SBI has decided to bear the tax on perquisites(on behalf of the employees/officers) on newspaper, petrol re-imbursement, staff quarters & furniture provided in staff quarters, entertainment etc vide their circular dated 13th March 2010. You may recall that the All India delegation of NOINO had met ED(P) & ED (MKTG) on 18th February 2010 to raise this issue. We have again raised this demand in the light of the above development. We reproduce below the letter submitted to ED(P) today i.e. 17th March 2010. A similar letter has also been submitted to ED(Mktg).

17.3.2010.

The Executive Director (Personnel),
L.I.C. of India.

Respected Madam,

Re: Tax on Perquisites

You may recall that our All India delegation had met you on 18th February 2010 to discuss various issues concerning the Class I Officers including the issue of Taxation on Perquisites relating to Staff quarters, Newspaper, & car under Scheme VI. You may also recall that we had demanded that the Corporation should bear the perquisites in all these matters. We had also given a reference that RBI is bearing perquisite tax on behalf of their employees. On the same day, we also met the ED (Marketing) Shri Chattopadhyay & placed our demand regarding the car under Scheme VI.
We would like to inform you that even SBI is bearing the perquisite tax on behalf of its employees. In this context, we draw your attention to the circular issued by SBI on 13th March 2010 ref P & HRD; Sl no.: 838/2009-10; Circular No.: CDO/ P & HRD-PM/75/2009-10, wherein it is clearly said that the Bank will continue to bear the Income-Tax (which means that it was bearing earlier too) on the perquisite value of furnished/unfurnished accommodation provided by the Bank as well as on the perquisite value of furniture. It is also further stated clearly in another paragraph that the Bank will also bear the Income-Tax on behalf of its employees on the perquisite value of monetary perquisites like re-imbursement of petrol bill/conveyance, entertainment, casual labour, cleansing materials, newspapers/magazines etc.
In the light of the above, we reiterate our earlier demand that the Corporation should bear the tax on the perquisites as referred above.

Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO.

Chaitra Navratra

Ya Devi sarvabhuteshu shaktirupen sansthita!
Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah!!

Chaitra Shukla 1 to 9. Every year these 9 days are celebrated as Chaitra Navratra. We worship the nine different incarnations of Goddess Durga, who symbolizes Strength / Power (Shakti) in human being, on these nine days.

May Goddess Durga give you strength to overcome all adversities in your life!

Nav Varsh Abhinandan

Chaitra Shukla 1, Vikram Samvat 2067.
Nav Varsh ki hardik shubhkamnayein!

Vikram Samvat is the calendar established by the Indian emperor of Ujjain Vikramaditya. It is the most popularly used calendar in India and official calendar of Nepal & Bangladesh.

Vikramaditya founded Vikram Samvat to commemorate his victory over Sakas in 56 BC. It is a lunar calendar based on ancient Indian tradition. Vikram Samvat calendar is 56 years older than the solar Gregorian Calendar and is one of the examples which confirm that Indian civilization is older than any other civilzation on this earth.

Joint front programme from 15th March

The All India leaders of joint front met on 13th March 2010 to review the situation. It was decided that the joint front constituents would make efforts through their political affiliations to meet the Finance Minister jointly to press for our demands. As far as the agitation of withdrawal of extra co-operation starting from 15th March was concerned, it was the majority opinion that only a broad outline regarding the same could be given & the same had been spelled out in the earlier joint front circulars. The nitty-gritties of the implementation can be decided by the joint front at the divisional level. Still, we are giving some broad guidelines:-

1. The employees (Class I to IV) should not work beyond office hours. This means that they should not work prior to the office hours or beyond that. However, it is also our responsibilty that we should attend the office in time.
2. The employees should not work on Sundays & holidays.
3. The full lunch time should be consumed.
4. The counters for cash/cheque collection should compulsorily close at 3.45 p.m(or 3.30 or 3.00 as the case may be in respective places). Now-a-days it is observed that additional counters have been started at branches. There is no need to object to it so far as they are also closed strictly at 3.45 p.m(or 3.30 or 3.00 as the case may be in respective places). . However, the cashier should not leave the office until the cash is tallied & deposited in the safe of branch to avoid complications.
5. The timing of backup will differ from branch to branch depending upon the time taken for backup. e.g. if the backup time is 1 hour then the backup should start at 4.30(or 1 hour before close of office hours depending upon the office timings in respective places) so that the programmer as well as the person designated for collecting the backup cartridge can also leave at 5.30(or 5.15 or 5.00 p.m as the case may be in respective places). This should be decided internally in the branch & co-operation of all concerned should be sought.
6. The joint front leaders in the branch should seek co-operation of the development officers/agents of the branch in closing the cash counter in time.
7. It is observed that the security norms pertaining to password are not followed scrupulously. Some employees in an attempt to finish the work part with their password. This is not advisable otherwise also. Therefore, the employees should not part with their password nor should they work on anybody's password. If somebody already knows your password, change it immediately & then don't disclose it again.

Kindly, however, understand that the call is only 'Withdrawal of extra co-operation' & therefore a day's honest work is expected from all the employees as it is not the intention of the joint front to hurt our institution. Another point to be noted here is that there may some news of the management calling the unions shortly either individually or jointly. This may be primarily to request the joint front to withdraw its agitation. For now the joint front has decided to go ahead with our agitation until the management offers substantially more than what they have offered till now. Till the time that the JOINT front officially issues a circular to that effect our agitation continues which please note.

Issued on behalf of JOINT front
Ganesh Kamath


Management invites for talks on 19 & 20 March.

NOINO did it again. NOINO President Shri Prakash Javadekar raised the issue of our wage-revision in Rajya Sabha on 12th March 2010 and as a result LIC management sent invitation to all unions on 15th March to come for talks on 19 & 20 March. This is for the fourth time (out of total 5 times) that LIC management called unions for wage-talks at the initiative of NOINO.

NOINO pledges to work always in the right direction to get the issues settled.

With a very happy (our own) (Indian) new year Vikram Samvat 2067,

- S. B. Sharan, GS,
NOINO, NZ.

NOINO raises wage-revision in Parliament again

NOINO PRESIDENT PRAKASH JAVADEKAR RAISED ISSUE OF WAGE-REVISION IN RAJYASABHA

On behalf of all LIC employees, NOINO President Shri Prakash Javadekar raised the issue of the pending wage-revision of LIC employees through 'Special mention' yesterday, i.e. on 12th March 2010. He raised the following issues/questions:-

1. He protested the fact that there was an unusual delay in settlement of the charter. He said that more than half the period of the five year charter was over & still the charter was not settled.
2. He pointed to the fact that due to unattractive salaries in comparison to private insurance companies, LIC was losing its best men to the private companies.
3. He demanded that the charter should be settled without any delay & that too according to the EXPECTATIONS of the employees.
4. He further demanded that the future charter negotiations should be started before they become due. He demanded that the negotiations for the next charter due on 1.8.2012 should start before 31st March 2012.
5. He also demanded that 'Navratna status' be conferred on LIC without any delay to ensure financial autonomy to some extent.

You may also recall that this issue had been raised by Javadekarji in the Rajyasabha on 8th December 2009 through an unstarred question. Shri Javadekarji has assured the LIC employees that he will continue to press for an early as well as satisfactory wage-revision(as per our aspirations)

Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO

Reporting of Dharna at Delhi

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF INSURANCE OFFICERS
(Affiliated to B.M.S.)
President: Shri Prakash Javadekar, MP, Rajyasabha
Working President: - Shri Sudhakar Ingole
Gen. Secretary: - Shri Ganesh Kamath.

9.3.2010.
DHARNA AT DELHI

As scheduled, the centralised Dharna of the joint front was held at New Delhi at Jeevanbharati office. More than 1000 employees participated which included over 100 officers. The participation of lady employees was notable. All India Leaders of the joint front addressed the Dharna. Leaders of NOINO, NOIW, AIIEA, BVKS,All India Life, Class IV, INTUC were present.

On NOINO's behalf Shri Ganesh Kamath, GS, addressed the Dharna. In his 15 minute speech, he stressed on the futility of comparison of LIC's wage-rise with the banking industry or any other industry for that matter. He quoted several facts & figures to augment his argument. He also came down heavily on the government's policy of meting out step-motherly treatment to LIC which had always contributed to the nation's growth. He exhorted the assembly to be ready for further intense struggle.

Another notable feature of the Dharna was the presence of Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya(BJP), ex-central labour minister & Shri Rudranarayan Pany, BJP MP(RS). Both of them assured to represent LIC employees' demands & promised that they would make our voice heard in the power corridors. Shri Tapan Sen of CPI(M) was also present.

On behalf of NOINO, we have submitted our memorandum to some MP's including the above.

The NZ team of NOINO led by Shri S B Sharan, Secy, NZ; Shri S K Saini, President, Shri H K Dhiman, VP strived hard to make the Dharna a huge success.

Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO.

6th March Dharna – Thank you.

We thank and congratulate the Class-I officers of North Zone for showing their marked presence and participation in Central Dharna at Jeevan Bharati, New Delhi as also Dharnas at Divisional Headquarters situated outside Delhi on 6th March 2010 as per Joint-front programme.

From this platform itself, we also thank the two BJP MPs – Shri Satya Narayan Jatiya, ex Cabinet Labour Minister and (present) MP & Shri Rudra Narain Pany, MP (Rajya Sabha) for attending and addressing the Central Dharna and showing their full support to our cause.

Detailed circular in this regard follows.

S.B.Sharan, GS,
NOINO, NZ.


Press Release

Joint Front of LIC Officers & Employees
C/o LIC of India, Divisional Office-I, ‘Jeevan Prakash’
25, K.G. Marg, New Delhi – 110 001
Phone No. 011 23354984, 985

05.03.2010

Press Release

LIC Officers & Employees on Dharna on 6th March 2010

Seven major unions of LIC of India which are constituents of a “JOINT-FRONT” formed with the objective of getting a respectable wage-revision which was due as back as on 01.08.2007 will stage a Central Dharna at Jeevan Bharti, 124 Connaught Circus, New Delhi on 06.03.2010 i.e. Saturday from 2 p.m. onwards. Central (All India) leaders of all seven unions will participate in above Dharna. This Dharna is a part of our agitation programmes formulated to get a reasonable wage revision in the backdrop of the following facts:

The charter of the LIC employees has been pending since 1.8.2007. The LIC management offered a wage-rise of 17.5% to the employees on 3rd November 2009 and again on 16th December 2009 which all the unions rejected and demanded a wage-rise on the basis of LIC’s sterling performance.

Despite recession, LIC has been putting up a commendable performance all these years. To quote few figures:- A. The total premium income of LIC grew from 48963 crores in 2001-02 to 157186 crores in 2008-09 i.e. a phenomenal growth of 221% in 7 years. This is unmatched. B. During this period the number of policies increased from 12.58 crores to 26 crores. C. The total investments of LIC are a massive 10 lakh crores. D. LIC has been paying a handsome dividend to the GOI every year for a meagre investment of 5 crores by the government. This year LIC paid a dividend of 929 crores.  

For the last 25 years or so, the finance ministry officials are un-necessarily & unfairly tagging the wage-rise of LIC employees with that of the banking industry which the employees have been protesting. The Banking Industry & LIC are not comparable on any count. The reasons for our argument are so many and cannot be summed-up in this short press-release.

We, therefore, demand an immediate reasonable wage-rise.


AIIEA AILIEA AINLIEF (INTUC) Cl-IV INTUC BVKS



NOINO-BMS NOIW-BMS

PS: You may please depute your reporter to cover-up the event.

Memorandum submitted to ED(P) on problems of FEMALE OFFICERS in LIC

Our lady representatives in Mumbai Smt Leena Ghatpande, Smt. Trupti Bramhe, Smt. Neeta Prabhavalkar, Smt. Saroj Kurdukar along with our WZ joint secretary Shri Manish Patankar submitted a memorandum on 'problems faced by female officers in LIC' to the ED(Personnel) Smt D. Vijayalakshmi on Friday, 26th February 2010 & demanded a one-day long workshop for discussions on the issues raised in the memorandum. The ED(P) assured that the issues would be discussed shortly.
 Kindly also note that while we are raising the issues of female officers, we also acknowledge that officers as a whole have to face a lot of problems. Many problems raised in this memorandum are common to both male as well as female officers. However, there are certain problems peculiar to female officers which we wanted to focus. The text of the memorandum is reproduced, here-in-below.
Ganesh Kamath, GS, NOINO.

26.2.2010
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The Executive Director (Personnel), L.I.C.of India.

Respected Madam,

Re: Problems of Female officers.

As your good self is aware, the number of female officers in LIC is increasing day by day. We feel that the female officers are a distinct segment as compared to the male officers, each one having different set of problems in addition to the common ones. With this in mind, a meet of lady members of NOINO was arranged on 9th Jan.2010 at Yogakshema in Mumbai. The subject of discussion was “Problems faced by female officers while working in LIC”.
About 65 lady officers from various branches, divisional offices of Mumbai and Thane as also from Western Zonal Office and Central Office participated in the meet.
The discussions continued over 2 & half hours. The session was quite interactive and various problems and suggestions were put forth. The discussions were animated and enthusiasm as well as the woes poured out from all the sides which reflected the harsh ground realities. We have categorized these problems into female officers’ problems; Common problems & some of the suggestions:-

Female Officers’ problems

Late-sitting- This has become a never ending and an everyday issue, in all branches & in many departments of divisional offices. The employees are also required to sit overnight during year end closing in addition to the daily late-sitting. Though this is a problem common to all officers, we are concerned with the security of lady officers and non-availability of transportation after late sitting.
Suggested solution- (1) Sufficient recruitment of Class III/IV employees,
timely closure of cash counters, at least 1 day gap between registration and
completion.
(2) In exigencies, whenever a lady officer is required to stay till late hours in
office, there should be proper arrangement to leave the officer at her
residence safely.

Problems faced by lady officers in Satellite branches :- Sometimes a lone
lady officer is posted in satellite branch. This poses security problems. There
is no sub-staff or Class III employees.
Suggested solution: Complete overhaul of Satellite branches needed with
adequate staff of all cadres and provision of security. Class I officers should
not be entrusted the job of cashiers.

Non availability of rest rooms for lady employees :- Even in the prestigious building of Yogakshema there is no restroom for lady employees leave alone in branches & buildings.
Suggested solution: - The Corporation should show sensitiveness & provide
restrooms to the lady employees forthwith in all the buildings of the
Corporation.

Common Problems

Some of the common problems (i.e. faced both by male as well as female
Officers) are listed below. In most of the problems we have suggested
solutions too:

Non-availability of emergency medical aid :- Here again, even in
Yogakshema, the employees have to fend for themselves if somebody is
seriously ill.
Suggested solution: Arrangement of doctor on call should be made in all
offices of the Corporation.

Accommodation on transfer / posting: The officers posted outside their Division or Zone on promotion are not provided with timely accommodation. The problem is more acute when the officer happens to be a lady.
Suggested solution: (1) Postings on promotion should also be linked with
availability of accommodation for officers.
(2) There is acute shortage of staff- /officers’ quarters at Divisional and Zonal
headquarters. There is need of owning / constructing more officers’ quarters
at these places.

Unmanageable workload and insufficient staff in most of the branches.
There is a shortage of sub-staff mainly in branches.
Suggested solution: More than one officer should be posted at least in the
departments like PS/Claims, NB of all branches. There should be induction of
fresh blood. In this respect, we demand that at least one full time sub staff &
two new recruit assistants should be posted to each department. This should
not be viewed as Costs but as an investment to provide better service to the
policyholders & to further improve our image.

Difficulties in handling more than one department in branches: & also in
higher offices where reporting is required to be done to different HODs.
Suggested solution: Each officer should be given charge of only one
department.

Unhygienic conditions and shabby ambience in non renovated branches:
Suggested solution: Modernization of non-renovated branches should be
undertaken on priority basis. Basic amenities and better working conditions
should be provided in all branches where modernization cannot be
undertaken for reasons beyond control.

Due to delay in promotion rounds Officers are required to manage the
department without sufficient staff after each promotion round for a long
period.
Suggested solution: Time lag between promotion rounds should be
reduced to the minimum.

Even snacks are not provided in many branches for late sitting citing
reasons of insufficient budget. This is really disgusting.
Suggested solution: (1) Staff regulations should be amended & Class I Officers should be paid overtime.
(2) Pending this demand a late sitting allowance of Rs.3000 p.m. should be paid.
(3) There should be strict instructions for observance of this minimum humanitarian courtesy.

8. Induction training is usually given after a long time.
Suggested solution: Timely and updated training covering recent changes
should be imparted.

9. Late sitting due to Back up in branches:-
Suggested solution: - NOINO has long back conducted a survey of 257
branches in the country over this issue & suggested various solutions in its
comprehensive 12 page report. Most of the suggestions including Centralised
back-up were accepted but there has been an inordinate delay in implementing
the same. We demand that the centralized back-up process should be
expedited to give relief to officers working in branches.

10. Parent Branch officers are required to wait for Satellite office to finish their
jobs.
Suggested Solution: There should be independent server at satellite office so
that under such circumstances data can be merged with parent branch’s data
the next morning.

11. CR’s of officers transferred or posted outside division on promotion are not
sent in time in some places thereby extending their outstation stay.

12. Date of extension of closing is not communicated in time.
Suggested solution: In the first instance, closing date should not be
extended at all. In case any such situation arises, ground level offices should
be informed well within time.

13. In many offices officers are bound to sit late on Saturdays thereby the
officers cannot avail the benefit of half-day.
Suggested solution: NOINO has been continuously demanding Five days
week which will also help in reduction in cost on a/c of electricity, water etc.

14. AAO’s/AO’s are required to travel by train for tours/ other official work
outside their divisions resulting in loss of time and energy.
Suggested solution: All officers should be allowed air travel while on official
visits outside their division.


Other suggestions

Shutters at cash counters.
Recreation facilities/ Yoga Classes.
Arrangement of vehicle at least on closing days.

We are sure that you are well aware of the gravity & the volume of the problems faced by the Class I Officers in LIC, more so by the female officers and also of the fact that in spite of all these problems, all the officers as well as other employees put their best/ slog at the cost of their homes and health to take OUR CORPORATION ahead. As such to expect a little bit of sensitiveness from the management towards the problems of their employees, should not be an high expectation.
We are sure that you empathize with our problems as you too are a female officer. We, therefore, feel that a systemic & a systematic approach is needed to arrive at practical solutions on these problems. We sincerely feel that the practical solutions to the above problems are urgently needed to further improve the working of the Corporation. We, therefore, demand a full day workshop with the representatives of NOINO so that we can put our heads together & identify the solutions.

Yours faithfully,



Female representatives of NOINO:

Leena Ghatpande, AO/CRM/CO

Neeta Prabhavalkar, AO/CLIA/CO

Trupti Bramhe, AO/MKTG/CO

Saroj Kurdukar, AAO/P & GS/MDO1

Holi

Holi aai re kanhai,
Rang barse,
Suna de jara baansuri !
Holi aai re aai re,
Holi aai re !!

Chaitra Krishna 1.
This day, every year, 'HOLI' festival is celebrated.

"Expression of Love"!
This is the main theme behind celebrating Holi.

People play colours in this festival. They go in groups to one-another's house and play colours with each-other. There is no bar of male-female in this festival. Every one plays Holi with each-other.

We wish you a very happy and colourful Holi !