NOINO meets Finance Minister

(The Photograph – Centre: Shri Prakash Javadekar, President, NOINO giving memorandum to Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, Govt of India. Left: Shri S.K.Saini, Zonal President, NOINO, NZ. Right: Shri S.B.Sharan, Zonal Secretary, NOINO, NZ. Photo Courtesy: Shri H.K.Dhiman, VP, NOINO, NZ.)

.
A NOINO delegation led by our President Shri Prakash Javadekar, MP met Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, Govt of India yesterday i.e. on 20th September 2010 and discussed the issues of wage-revision and PLLI. Other members of the delegation were Shri S.B.Sharan, Zonal Secretary, NZ; Shri S.K.Saini, Zonal President, NZ and Shri H.K.Dhiman, Zonal Vice President, NZ. The details of the discussions are given below:-


 1. Wage revision notification: We pointed out that our wage-revision was due since 1st August 2007, i.e. for more than 3 years. We informed him that the revised wage-structures, duly discussed with all unions and passed by LIC Board, stood sent to his ministry for getting necessary approval and notified in the official gazette.
 Shri Mukherjee immediately enquired about the matter from his office and informed us that Shri R. Gopalan, Secretary (Insurance) was out of country, so, he was unable to tell the exact position at that time, however, he would be informing us about the matter as soon as Shri Gopalan is back to India i.e after 2 days.
 We reiterated that 3 long years had passed since our wage-revision became due and that officers and employees were getting impatient. To this the Finance Minister assured us that he would see to it that the notification would be expedited very shortly.
  2. PLLI: We informed him that PLLI for the financial year 2009-2010 was not yet paid to the employees. We also informed him that the matter was pending with his office for getting necessary approval of the parameters. We further informed him that the books of accounts for the last financial year stood officially declared on 1st September itself and, as such, the payment stood delayed to us.
 We requested him to ensure that all the LIC officers and employees were paid the maximum rate of PLLI (i.e. 6%) in the wake of outstanding performance of the Corporation. We further requested him to approve the parameters accordingly.

The Finance Minister noted our points and assured to get the approval expedited.


We also submitted a memorandum to him in these regards. 


sd/-
Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO.
.

Mumbai Mirror - Rejoinder by LIC

.
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.
.

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.
.

Mumbai Mirror - People's feedback

.
Further to our post dated 18.09.2010 on the subject (meal coupon issue), we sent the feedback, received by us, to Mumbai Mirror. The feedback are reproduced below:

Lic is the most trusted brand in the world. If they are taking such steps to improve punctuality among the employees why one should oppose them? There are many Govt. departments where common man experiences huge curruption. In comparasion Lic has done much better for a common man 
Abhay., hardikarabhay@yahoo.in Dated : Saturday, September 18, 2010

It is ridiculous to point out that the benefit is used to bribe the employees. Meal coupons are widely used in the financial institutions in the country to provide additional benefit to their employees. LIC which is in the service of the nation for the past 64 years has initiated this scheme as an additional employee benefit. I would like to clarify that the wage bill of LIC as a percentage of its profits is still among the lowest in the country and in this highly competitive environment these perks are necessary to retain talented employees. Moreover in comparison to the sixth pay commission benefits extended to Central Government employees, this is a fraction of what the employees of this mighty organisation deserve.
V K Tripathi, tripvinay@gmail.com Dated : Saturday, September 18, 2010

We are really shocked to read the article on food coupons to LIC Employees in a reputed daily like yours without going into the full details. It is gross misuse of the power of the fourth pillar to sully the image of a great organization by some vested interests, unfortunately for which you have fallen victim to. First certain important basic facts. Whatever benefits that are paid by any organization / company are paid out of the earnings that accrue due to the hard work of the employees of the company. The company compensates the employees for their hard work by various methods. It is condemnable to use the language you have used as the headline to your article without knowing this basic economic principle. Second, compare the performance of LIC vis-a-vis public sector banks or any other sector organization that is working in the country. In spite of privatization, the organization has performed creditably and grown in its performance year on year. All this are being achieved without any significant new recruitment to its working force. For a figure, after 1996-97 LIC has not gone for mass recruitment. Now even banks have started increasing the work force, but LIC is still to do that. In spite of all this, on a meagre Rs.5 Crore investment LIC is paying back the Government hundreds of crores every year. Over and above this LIC also helps the Government in 5year plans and whenever it wants to prop up the sagging stock market. Thirdly, among public sector financial institutions (RBI, Banks 
SRINIVASAN, susrila@gmail.com Dated : Saturday, September 18, 2010

This is to inform you that LIC employees(Cl-3 and Cls 4)were allowed concessions twice a month to reach late and to leave early for emergency work,when required.But it did not mean that any body was unpunctual in the organisation.The Officers any ways reach on time.Our timings in Mumbai are 10.30 to 5.30,for your kind information.This scheme which is still awaiting approval is a very internal matter and NOT swindling of any public money,because we slog a lot in the office even at the cost of sitting very very late to complete Business targets and related work.At such times,we do neglect our home and our family's dinner too.During the financial year ending quarter(Dec-March),we are back home only around 10 pm,WITHOUT ANY COMPENSATION,whatsoever.And,do we remind you that 80% of the employees in Mumbai are WOMEN??There is no Organisation anywhere in the world who does so much for so little...even at the cost of compromising on our HEALTH..ARE THE NGO'S AND MUMBAI MIRROR AWARE OF OUR DAILY PLIGHT??we do not cry in front of our policyholders n the public.We are a selfless organisation and WE ARE PROUD TO BE AN LICian.The agents do get their awards and perks,but not the employees!!Seriously,we are at a loss to understand who is the brain behind this distorted report???We were always financially very strong and not just 'doing well' now!!We have a life fund of 10 lakh crores,but never have the employees been treated even remotely like their pvt sector counterparts. Pls get your facts correct.Our corporate communication chief has rightly said that there are many dangerous and corrupt events happening in the city every day.It is only humane for the Corporation to feel for employees who do so much for the nation's growth and development.WE ARE VERY ANGRY..
SRIKALA MENON
AAO
LIC OF INDIA
SRIKALA MENON, srikalasantosh@gmail.com Dated : Saturday, September 18, 2010

I REGRET TO READ THE SCRIPT ON ABOVE GIVEN SUBJECT THAT LIC WILL SPEND RS. 335 CRORE OF TAXPAYERS' MONEY ACROSS THE COUNTRY ON FOOD COUPONS TO CAJOLE EMPLOYEES TO COME TO OFFICE ON TIME PUBLISHED IN THE TODAY'S I.E. 18.9.2010 MUMBAI MIRROR BY MR. TS SRINIVASA RAGHAVAN.   AS AN EMPLOYEES OF LIC, I MR. PRASAD KAKODKAR WORKING WITH 890, MALAD BRANCH FELT VERY SORRY TO READ THE WRONG MESSAGE OPENLY GIVEN TO PUBLIC.  I WANT EXPLANATION & CLARIFICATION ABOUT THE MATTER ON MY CONTACT NO. 9820303763 IMMEDIATELY.  LIC IS A HUGE PUBLIC ORGANISATION AND YOU ARE SPOILING THE IMAGE OF LIC BY PUBLISHING SUCH NEWS.  AS AN EMPLOYEE WELFARE LIC CAN GIVE ANY FACILITY TO EMPLOYEE AND ITS AN INTERNAL MATTER OF LIC MANAGEMENT  AND ITS EMPLOYEES.

PLEASE LOOK INTO THE MATTER AND CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY ON MY MOBILE NO. 9820303763 AS I WANT CLARIFICATION.
Prasad Kakodkar
Dev. Officer, Br 890/Mumbai DO 3
.

Mumbai Mirror - we protest

.
Further to our last post titled ''Derogatory article in Mumbai Mirror'' we reproduce below the protest letter which we (NOINO & NOIW) wrote to the Chairman against the article:


NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF INSURANCE OFFICERS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF INSURANCE WORKERS
(Affiliated to B.M.S.)

18.9.2010.

The Chairman,
L.I.C. of India.

Respected Sir,

Re: Article in Mumbai Mirror

We draw your attention to the article ‘Your money, their lunch’ in today’s edition of Mumbai Mirror. The article is in a very bad taste & paints the LIC employees as perennial latecomers & work-shirkers. The entire tone of the article suggests as if till now all the LIC employees were coming late & the Corporation has to enforce discipline through such measures. We have received countless angry reactions from the employees on this issue.
.
The title of the article is most offensive & highly objectionable. The article contains many basic errors like the number of employees (which has been inflated to 1.40 lakhs). It also uses objectionable language (like LIC is bribing its employees to come on time) & throws barbs at the employees (weird variation of mid-day meal scheme). Media ethics like verifying facts from the officials of the Corporation have been given a convenient go-by. We also object to the term ‘Taxpayers’ money being spent’ which again is not true.
.
We register our strong protest on this issue. The image of the employees & consequently the Corporation is at stake. We demand that the Corporation should immediately shoot a strong rejoinder to this newspaper & demand an apology from the writer of this article for hurting the sentiments of the employees & showing them in a poor light. The Corporation should also take the extreme step of stopping all advertisements to this paper in case the apology is not forthcoming. We also reiterate our earlier demand that no conditions should be attached with any benefit as this is giving rise to the above false impression.
.
Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO
Sd/-
Dnyanesh Paranjape
Secy., NOIW
.

Derogatory article in Mumbai Mirror

.
Mumbai Mirror (a Mumbai based newspaper) and Pune Mirror (a Pune based newspaper) published a derogatory article in their newspapers today i.e. on 18.09.2010 about the meal coupon scheme in LIC of India.

When it came to our knowledge, NOINO & NOIW (jointly) immediately wrote a strongly worded protest letter to the Chairman.

First we reproduce below the article which was published:

Heading:
Your money, their lunch

Subheading:
In a weird variation of the mid-day meal scheme, LIC will spend Rs 336 crore of taxpayers’ money across the country on food coupons to cajole employees to come to office on time

The Article:
Punctuality is the norm in any professional environment and employees disregarding it are duly penalised. However, in a bizarre Pavlovian initiative, the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is virtually bribing its employees to come to office on time. From October onwards, LIC employees across the country who come in on time will receive food coupons worth Rs 1,000 to Rs 4,000 along with their monthly salary.
 “But to get this benefit, the employees should log in to their computers by 10 am or within the 10-minute grace period. All employees, from part-time staff to zonal managers, who log in on time will receive food coupons ranging between Rs 50 and Rs 200 daily,” an LIC source told Mumbai Mirror.
 LIC has put in place an elaborate scheme to enable its employees to encash the coupons at select food outlets and malls. Interestingly, the food coupons redeemed will not attract income-tax, thus becoming a double whammy of sorts for the employees.
 LIC’s chief of corporate communications, Vipin Anand, termed it an internal matter. “Is it big news? There are hundreds of other things happening in the country. Why don’t you write about it?” he snapped.
 Basic math suggests that the PSU giant stands to lose Rs 336-crore annually (an average of Rs 2000 per month multiplied by 12 months for 1.4 lakh employees). We are taking only 20 working days because added to the ‘punctuality incentive’, they will still avail of their leaves – the PLs, SLs, CLs and other bank holidays.
 M Vijayanand, co-founder and president of Fifth Pillar, a well-known NGO which fights corruption at high places and reckless spending of public money, said the move was ridiculous. He plans to file an RTI application to obtain more details on the issue.
 “LIC has set a bad precedent,” Vijayand said. “By paying an incentive to ensure punctuality is an admission that the service rules are not being imposed effectively. LIC is now doing well financially. In future, if it is to face a downturn and has to withdraw the incentive, the employees would then say ‘why should we come on time since you don’t pay us’,” Vijayanand said.
 Meanwhile, Life Insurance Agents Federation of India (LIAFI) national secretary Shyamal Chakraborthy went on a different tangent. His grouse was LIC agents should not be excluded from the food coupon incentive system. “We have told LIC executive director (marketing) T Chattopadhyay that it was unfair, because we are the ones who bring maximum business to LIC,” he said.
 On how LIC would ensure effective attendance monitoring, an official explained, “Ours is a highly computerised organisation. Sitting in Mumbai, our chairman can evaluate the business performance of our Kolar office. So, we know who comes in late.”

T S Sreenivasa Raghavan
mirrorfeedback@indiatimes.com


Our protest letter to the Chairman is reproduced in our next post.
.

Teej & Ganesh Chaturthi

.
Gajananam Bhutaganadisevitam Kapitthajambuphalacharubhakshhanam!
Umasutam Shokavinashakarakam Namami Vighneshwarapadapankajam!!

Teej evam Vainayaki Shri Ganesh Chaturthi Vrat ki hardik shubhkamnayein!!
.

NOINO discusses Meal Coupon with ED(P)

.
Further to our protest lodged with the Chairman immediately after introduction of Meal Coupon Scheme on 1st September 2010, NOINO & NOIW discussed the matter with ED (Personnel) on 8th September 2010 i.e. yesterday.

We give below the details of our discussions held:

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF INSURANCE OFFICERS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF INSURANCE WORKERS
(Affiliated to B.M.S.)

9.9.2010.

DISCUSSIONS WITH ED (PERSONNEL) ON MEAL COUPON SCHEME

LIC introduced the scheme of meal coupons from 1st September 2010. However, the joy of the employees was short-lived when it was found that there were a lot of draconian conditions attached to it. A lot of resentment has been generated on this count. NOINO & NOIW immediately wrote separate letters to the Chairman expressing our resentment. NOINO/NOIW also decided to conduct protest demonstrations on 8th September against the conditional grant of meal coupons. However, the ED (P) appealed to us not to go ahead with these demonstrations & discuss the issue instead. We then decided to suspend the demonstrations in view of the appeal. The discussions took place on 8th September 2010 with the ED (P). The discussions continued for more than an hour & all issues relating to this scheme were discussed thread-bare. The delegation consisted of Shri Ganesh Kamath, GS, NOINO; Shri Manish Patankar, Jt. Secy, NOINO, WZ; Shri Dnyanesh Paranjape, Secy, NOIW; Shri Brahmesh Hardikar, Secy, NOIW; Shri Nitin Paranjape, CC member, NOIW. Following are the details of the discussions:-

At the outset, we placed on record our views about the issue. We reiterated our firm opposition to any conditions being attached with any benefit & demanded that any benefit should be given without any strings attached. We also protested the fact that the management did not take into confidence NOINO & NOIW before taking this decision & said that such unilateralism did not bode well for the industrial relations. Then we discussed the following points:-

Grace period: - ED (P) assured that the facility of grace period would continue.
Late coming: - ED (P) assured that the facility of late-coming two times in a month would continue. However, the employee would not get coupons for those days. We have opposed this. We then pointed out that the employees who have the intention to attend in time but due to circumstances out of control (e.g. trains running late, or strike of some sort etc) sometimes cannot attend in time & hence natural justice would be denied to them if the coupons were to be refused for that day.. The ED (P) replied that in the circumstances wherein there is a problem affecting a large number of employees or if it related to office exigencies, the late would be condoned & the coupon would be intact. However, it would not be condoned if there was some personal reason or if the problem relates to only one or two employees. We then raised the issue of ‘express permission’ which has been mentioned in the meal coupons circular. ED (P) said that it related to such situations as explained above where the concerned officer had the discretion to waive the late-coming. We then demanded that management should issue clarification about the doubts. ED (P) assured to look into it.
Login through E-Portal: - We pointed out that such system was not in vogue in majority of the government institutions/PSU like RBI, SBI, Income-tax, Central Govt, and Banks. In some institutions there is a swap-card system in practice but that is more related to security rather than attendance. ED (P) was firm that the login system would not be done away & was here to stay. We reiterated our firm opposition to it & said that this system was impractical.
Issues concerning Class I Officers:- We pointed out that the brunt of the employees ire would have to be borne by the Class I Officers. The Class I Officers, particularly in the branches have to run the show with the co-operation of the Class III/IV employees. If they were to walk out at the official closure of office timings even during closing period (due to the resentment against the scheme) then the entire burden would then fall on the already hard-pressed Class I Officers. We also said that leaving too much to the discretion of Class I Officers would spell more trouble for them & give rise to daily squabbles. We therefore insisted that a circular should be issued defining the general circumstances where the discretion could be used to minimize the problem. We also pointed out that the scheme would further increase the work pressure of the Class I Officers because now they have been asked to login for Class IV employees, handicapped employees etc. in addition to marking the muster manually till such time the muster practice was discontinued. In addition to that, now the ‘Approver’ has to actually ratify the presence of those employees who have logged in. ED (P) said that management would take care of that. However, we said that it was easier said than done.
Impracticalities in the scheme: - We pointed out that the respective OS departments would have a tedious job at hand. This would also lead to unnecessary loss of precious man-hours.
½ day leave: - We argued that if a person availed ½ day leave, he would still work for 3½ hours on that day. When the coupons would be issued for Saturday for the same number of working hours, then the same logic should have been applied here too. ED (P) replied that the logic for issuing coupons on Saturdays was different. It was because for all practical purposes Saturday is treated as a full working day & if an employee takes leave on Saturday it is treated as full day leave. We did not agree to that & demanded that any type of leave should be excluded for the purpose of grant of this coupon. At the most the habitual & perennial offenders may be brought under the ambit of this scheme.
Early going facility: - We demanded that the early going facility should be restored immediately. We also pointed out that in case of an unforeseen emergency both the employee required to go early from the office as well as his immediate officer would be in trouble in view of the wordings ‘ apart from any other action taken by the Competent authority’. ED (P) replied under such extraordinary circumstances, the management would consider not taking any action in such cases. However, in other cases, the employees should apply for ½ day leave.
Training/Tour :- On this issue, ED (P), assured that wherever the employee was not eligible for TA, DA, he would be paid the meal coupon e.g. one day training. We also raised the issue about the officials not being eligible for coupon when he would be late from an official tour which would be unfair if the circumstances would be beyond his control. However, the ED (P) was not positive about this.
Other issues: - We said that though now an amount was specified for each cadre, it would be insufficient after some time due to inflation & suggested that there should be a system to review it periodically & link it to the Dearness allowance. ED (P) has noted this point. We also pointed out that the coupons beyond 100 rupees would attract tax on perks & demanded that this should be absorbed by the Corporation. ED (P) has assured to look into the matter.
In the end, we reiterated our earlier stand that the scheme should be de-linked from the conditions & the scheme was not acceptable to us in the present format & the conditions should be removed forthwith & improvements be made. We also reiterated that there should not be any further unilateral decisions & insisted that the management should consult/discuss NOINO/NOIW before taking any policy decisions regarding employees.

Sd/-
Shri Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO
Sd/-
Shri Atul Deshpande
GS, NOIW
.

NOINO not in strike on 7th Sept.

.
Few Trade Union Organizations have given call for strike on 7th September 2010 i.e. tomorrow.

We like to clarify that NOINO (or any affiliate of BMS) is not participating in the strike. As such, all NOINO office-bearers and members will remain present in the office tomorrow i.e. on 7th Sept.
.

NOINO Amravati (WZ) committee

.
The NOINO committee in Amravati(WZ) has been reconstituted.

On 19.08.2010 a meeting of National Organisation of Insurance Officers, Amravati Unit was held in the presence of Shri Sudhakarrao Ingole, All India Working President; Shri Vishwas V. Shastri, Zonal Secretary, WZ; Shri D.V.Aloni, All India Treasurer and Smt. Anagha Sant, Organising Secretary, WZ. The following Officer Bearers were elected:

President: Shri N.A. Bais, Chief Manager, Achalpur B.O.

General Secretary: Shri. S.S.Sapkal , A.O. Amravati D.O.

Vice Presidents:
1. Shri. S.J.Ladsawangikar, Chief Manager, Washim B.O.
2. Shri M.G.Patkhedkar, Sr.Branch Manager, Khamgaon B.O.
3. Shri S.V.Gaikwad, Dy.Manager, CLIA, Amravati D.O.
4. Shri.S.S.Deotare, A.A.O., Yavatmal CBO I

Organising Secretaries:
1. Shri. A.S.Pande, Branch Manager, P&GS Unit, Amravati.
2. Smt.A.S.Akolikar, A.A.O., Amravati CBO-I.

Joint Secretaries:
1. Shri. Suresh Nair, A.O. Yavatmal CBO II
2. Shri. S.S.Kuptekar , A.A.O., Buldhana B.O.
3. Shri. S.S.Deshmukh, A.A.O. Amravati D.O.
4. Shri. S.S.Mulaokar, A.A.O. Amravati D.O.

Treasurer :
Shri. A.A.Kothiwan , A.A.O. Amravati D.O.

EC Members:
Shri V.M. Ghate, A.O. Akola CBO I,
Shri. M.G.Lonkar, A.A.O., Divl. Off.
Shri. M.K.Pendke, A.B.M.(S) Buldhana B.O.
.

NOINO protests conditional meal coupons

.
NOINO has written a letter to the Chairman on the issue of conditional meal coupons. The letter is reproduced below:

1st September 2010

The Chairman,
L.I.C. of India.

Respected Sir,

Re: Announcement of Meal Coupons

On behalf of all LIC employees, we wish you a very happy anniversary. LIC has completed 54 glorious years of its existence & the credit goes to all the classes of employees who have left no stone unturned in bringing the Corpoartaion to its present enviable position.

We also thank you for introducing the concept of meal coupons.

However, we have serious doubts/objections in the proposed scheme as follows:-

 1. Withdrawal of early going facility:- This is a retrograde step because:-
 * Employees have been availing this facility for the last so many years. There is no logic in withdrawing this facility as the incidence of disturbance in work is minimal.
 * As it is, many employees do not avail this facility as they do not stand a chance of going home even on time due to the heavy work-load.
 * If the early going facility is withdrawn & the same is linked to the meal coupons, then whether the management will compensate for the late-sitting? The logic cannot be applied only one-way.
 * This will also lead to employees resorting to going early without any official sanction but with the understanding of their superiors in event of any emergency. What is then the need of un-necessary imposition of this step?
Heavens will not fall if we continue with this facility. We strongly demand the restoration of this facility.

2. Linking with attendance :- It is one thing to encourage attendance for those who are habitual offenders & another to treat leave as if it is a cardinal sin. Leave is a privilege earned by the employees after a long struggle. It would not be out of place to say that leave/break is absolutely necessary for an employee for relaxation/recreation/rejuvenation. We suggest that at the most, the clause should be modified & only leave after a particular limit should be brought under the ambit of this scheme if at all the intention is to curb excess leave.

3. We also demand that the benefit should be paid for all the days of the month whether working or not.

We again request you to consider the above demands & ensure that any benefit granted should be without any draconian conditions.

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

NOINO activist in Commonwealth Games

.
WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT SHRI HIREN B. SHAH (PG - 1) WHO IS OUR ACTIVE EC MEMBER IN NADIAD HAS BEEN SELECTED AS TECHNICAL OFFICIAL FOR SWIMMING EVENTS IN COMMONWEALTH GAMES TO BE HELD IN DELHI FROM 3rd OCTOBER 2010.

SHRI HIREN B. SHAH ALSO OFFICIATED IN YOUTH COMMONWEALTH GAMES AT PUNE IN 2008. HE HAS ALSO BEEN OFFICIATING IN NATIONAL GAMES SINCE 2000.

WE WISH HIM BEST OF LUCK. NOINO IS PROUD OF HIM.

GANESH KAMATH
GS, NOINO.
.

Tax on perks on staff quarter

NOINO's DEMAND FOR BEARING TAX ON PERKS WITH RETROSPECTIVE EFFECT ACCEPTED

26.8.2010.
------------- 

You may be aware that NOINO has been continuously taking up the issue of bearing of the tax on perks relating to various matters including staff quarters. The management had principally accepted our demand vide their circular dated 6.4.2010. However, there was a lack of clarity as to the period for which the tax on perks relating to staff quarters would be borne. You may recall that we had written a letter to the management on 7.8.2010 for issuing a clarification & raising the demand to bear the tax with retrospective effect. Now the CO/OS/Salary vide their circular dated 24.8.2010 clarified that the tax would be borne for the entire period from 1995-96 to 2009-2010. 

Thus NOINO has yet again been proved successful in resolving the issuewhich was concerning a good number of employees. We would like to recall the efforts which we have made in this context:-

18.2.2010-----NOINO's All India delegation meets ED(MKTG) & ED(Personnel) & raises the demand that LIC should bear tax on perquisites. 

2. 20.2.2010-----Letter submitted to ED(Mktg) & Chairman.

3. 17.3.2010-----NOINO again raises this demand in the light of SBI deciding to bear the tax on perks vide their circular dated 13.3.2010.

4. 19.3.2010-----NOINO again raises this demand during the discussions with management.

5. 22.3.2010-----NOINO again reminds the Chairman of this demand while submitting the joint front letter of suspension of agitation & demanding early & satisfactory settlement.

6. 3.4.2010------NOINO submits reminder letter to MD Shri A K Dasgupta. We also met him personally to remind him of this issue among other issues.

7. 6.4.2010-----Management issues circular that tax on perks, taxable at the hands of employees would be borne by LIC.

8. 7.8.2010----NOINO submits letter to ED ( F & A) & raises demand for bearing the tax with retrospective effect & issuing clarification.

9. 24.8.2010----Management issues circular clarifying that the tax would be borne with retrosepctive effect.


NOINO will continue to fight for the legitimate demands of the Class I Officers.

Yours brotherly,
sd/-
Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO.

NOINO, NZ meets RM(P&IR)ZM, NZ

.
Today, i.e. on 23.08.2010, NOINO, NZ had a meeting with Shri Neeraj Agarwal, RM (P&IR) ZM, North Zone at 12 o’clock to discuss different issues related to class-I officers of North Zone. NOINO, NZ was represented by Shri S.K.Saini, Zonal President and Shri S.B.Sharan, Zonal Secretary.

We are receiving frequent queries on the matter of request-transfers of class-I officers to be effected by North Zone. As such, we are giving below the fixed norms {as per our discussion with RM(P&IR)ZM} which P&IR deptt of North Zone has adopted to effect request-transfers:

1. The RM(P&IR) categorically said that they took-up request-transfers of the officers who had spent 2 years at a particular place. When requested to define 2 years, he said that it didn’t mean 2 calendar years. By and large it meant 2 promotion rounds subject to availability of vacancies at the place for which the concerned officer is requesting for. If the available vacancy permitted, they tried to accommodate the officers who had joined from 1st contingency list of last but one promotion round.
2. When asked about special considerations, the RM(P&IR) said that if an officer himself or any member of his nuclear family (wife & children only) (parents excluded) had some serious nature of disease due to which he / she was seeking the transfer, such cases were considered in one year also.
3. As regards inter-zone transfer of AAOs, the RM(P&IR) said that the 2-year norm applied to them also.

Besides above, other matters related to P&IR deptt of the Zone were also discussed. We also submitted a list of the officers who had applied for request transfers within the Zone and wished that NOINO, NZ should follow-up their cases.

Over-all response of the RM(P&IR)ZM was very positive.

We wish you all a very happy Rakshha Bandhan !!

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

Notice: Intra Divn transfer - Delhi DO-I

.
All NOINO office-bearers / members under Delhi DO-1:
------------------------------------------- 

Officers who seek Intra-Division transfer i.e. transfer to be effected by Delhi Do-1, and wish that NOINO, Delhi DO-1 should follow-up their cases, are requested to furnish following details to us latest by 5.00pm on 24.08.2010 i.e. Tuesday:

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:

Please attach a soft-copy of your representation while furnishing above facts.

Kanchan Chadha, Secretary
NOINO, Delhi DO-1.
.

Anomaly in Charter proposals

.
NOINO has submitted a letter to ED(P) regarding continuation of anomaly in the earlier wage revision in the charter proposals of 19th July. The letter is reproduced below:

13.8.2010.

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

Respected Madam,

Re: Continuation of anomaly in the Charter proposals of 19th July.

We would like to point out that the anomaly in the earlier wage-revision continues in the charter proposals given by the management on 19th of July 2010. Before substantiating our point through an example, we would like to bring to your notice that the main issue here is that an employee who has passed Fellowship examination of the Insurance Institute of India is fixed at the same Salary on promotion from HGA to AAO as that of an employee who has passed Associateship examination, though they are promoted on the same day & are having the same basic pay (pre-promotion). The example is as follows:-

X & Y have been promoted as AAO on the same day & have the same basic pay as HGA. Both opt for fixation on NGI which is again same. X has passed Associateship while Y has passed Fellowship.

X (Associateship):
Present New Offer
Basic: 12605 19570
NGI: 540 840
Allow.: + 325 + 490
====== ======
13470 20900

Y( Fellowship):
Present New Offer Basic: 12605 19570 NGI: 540 840 Allow:+ 545 + 820
====== ======
13690 21230
====== ======

New Basic after fixation in AAO:
X
----------------------
(old) (New)
14350 22280

Y
-----------------------
(old) (New)
14350 22280

Hence both are fixed at the same basic pay in spite of the fact that Y has additional qualification. This is an injustice to such employees who have worked hard to acquire the additional qualification. There are two solutions:-

Either the difference between the Associateship & Fellowship should be suitably increased, say, more than one increment & the Fellowship allowance should be increased suitably,
OR such employees (who have passed Fellowship) should be given one more increment on fixation after promotion.

We urge you to take urgent necessary steps to remove the anomaly before the Charter proposals are notified.

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-
Ganesh Kamath
GS, NOINO
.