Mumbai Mirror - Rejoinder by LIC

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Refer our 2 posts dated 18.09.2010 titled ''Derogatory article in Mumbai Mirror'' & ''Mumbai Mirror - we protest''. Consequent upon our protest against the derogatory article and submission of people's feedback on the article (our post dated 20.09.2010), LIC shot rejoinder which was published today i.e. on 21st September 2010 on page 25 in Mumbai Mirror.

The rejoinder is being reproduced below. You will observe that many points which we had raised in our letter to the Chairman have appeared in the rejoinder.
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The Rejoinder:


This is with reference to the article that appeared in your newspaper on September 18, titled "Your money, their lunch" . The article has hurt the sentiments of thousands of dedicated employees of Life Insurance Corporation.
 The meal coupon scheme is not dissimilar to several meal coupon schemes, high quality subsidised canteens run by hundreds of companies in India. It is not a new or unique policy. The same is as much a part of facilities provided to our employees as any other facility provided by enlightened employers worldwide and forms a part of the cost to the company, rather than 'coming out of taxpayers' pocket'.
 For administering any scheme there has to be some mechanism and in the case of LIC, the attendance module was identified as one such, linking it to late coming and presenting it as bribery for punctuality is ludicrous. The article creates an impression that all employees of the corporation are late every day and that the management is a helpless bystander, which is far from the truth. The discipline in the organisation is one of the highest among public sector institutions and the improving productivity of the employees over the years is a testimony of this.
 LIC is a business organisation and providing benefits to its employees is part of the business operating costs of the company, funded through the Corporation's earnings and not through tax-payers' money, as your report states, or through policy-holders' funds. How the same are packaged is an internal HR issue and does not affect the policyholders or the public in general.

Vipin Anand
Chief, Corporate Communications, LIC.
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