LIC unions 'mute' opposition to IPO
Employees just show token resistance after ‘quid pro quo’, say bank staffers
Sebi okays 63k-cr mega LIC IPO
Mumbai: The much-anticipated divestment of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has been opposed from various quarters, but the company's unions seem to have only shown token opposition to the move, according to banking industry players.
The purported reason for this is a veritable 'deal' struck with the LIC management and the government last year, giving the LIC staffers a significant pay-and-perks advantage over the banking industry, they claimed.
These include a hike in Dearness Allowance and a five-day working week for LIC's 1,35,000 employees, compared with the rest of the industry that is saddled with a lower DA and alternate Saturdays off.
In the last wage revision (April 2021), the LIC staffers were given a 0.08 per cent hike for every 4-point rise in the DA calculation, although the banking industry is getting only 0.07 per cent for every 4-point rise.
Besides the 'higher pay', the LIC staffers also work less -- enjoying a five-day week with all Saturdays off -- compared with the industry norms of alternate Saturdays holiday.
"This move by the Centre has created an imbalance in the entire banking and insurance sector with the LIC staffers being given a favourable treatment, ostensibly to rush through the LIC IPO without much objections from its employees," said All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) General Secretary S. Nagarajan.
Not only the AIBOA, but at least three MPs have recently written letters to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Karad and Department of Financial Services, drawing their attention to the discrepancy and demanding that there should be parity.
They are: Lok Sabha MP Communist Party of India's K. Subbarayan (Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu), Rajya Sabha MPs of Congress Kumar Ketkar and Shiv Sena's Anil Desai.
