Happy Women's Day! Woman's Empowerment, the LIC Way!

            The topmost echelons of the management of L.I.C of India consist of many women. Unfortunately, while they are apparently interested in women's empowerment, (rather, just talking about it!) their actions belie their attitude. There are some who deliver powerful lectures on women's empowerment but when it comes to actually walking the talk, develop cold feet and coolly look the other way!
          

          My tryst with the R.T.I appeal to the organization for getting my arrears and answers to queries; proved the above-mentioned sad truth. If I'd have got all my answers, I'd have also felt empowered, but alas, these ladies have forgotten the very meaning of empowerment, by choosing to be the Devil's Advocate (literally)!
          

          True empowerment can be attained only by supporting others. If ladies deprive other ladies (and men!) of their legally rightful dues and also justify it, it's a matter of concern and shame. Surely, they can use their own sense of judgment, reasoning and logic to make the men in their team aware of their flawed and unjust decisions instead of towing their line and trying to save their jobs and maintaining the status quo!
          

          These ladies have not shown the slightest bit of support to the cause of the resigning employees; arbitrarily and unjustly not being given their arrears and difference in retirement benefits, by the management.

          So one can just conclude that women can be women's best friends and worst foes too!

          Once we get all our dues from the Corporation, I will be filling the form for Deha-daan (body-donation). That is my vow. 

          In case of my earlier demise, my family will be donating my body to my chosen hospital.

New AAO's post's applicants, think twice before joining LIC of India!

          Recently, LIC of India has advertised for recruitment of AAOs, in the newspapers. Most of you, who think that LIC's is a lucrative job with bright career prospects; and are eligible candidates; will fill in the forms. 
         
          Here's a warning. BEWARE! The reasons for exercising caution are as follows:

If selected, LIC of India will give you appointment letters, stating your expected salary, with a statement in brackets, saying, 'Wage Revision Due'.
But if you leave LIC within 3 years, you won't get the arrears due to wage revision and will be left high and dry. You'll run from pillar to post for your legally rightful dues, but won't get any response from LIC or you'll get the hackneyed response that 'as per rules, you are not eligible for arrears' payment.'

In every Charter of wage revision, LIC includes a Clause 3 1 ii)/b) which states that resigning employees will not get the arrears. This is in spite of the fact that the Supreme Court has declared this Clause to be ultra vires, in 2008.

In effect, if you stick around with LIC for a minimum of 20 years, you'll get the arrears, but if you leave before 20 years, even by one day, you won't get the arrears.

So friends, think carefully whether you'll continue to serve in LIC for so long and only then apply for the job. This is especially for the Direct Recruits as Assistant Administrative Officers in LIC of India.
If you are applying for other jobs in the Government Sector, simultaneously, and get some call letter from them after joining LIC, and decide to take up that offer and resign from LIC, you will not get the arrears payment because of LIC's Clause, as above-mentioned.

Let me give you an instance:

Mr. X joined LIC in 2013 and left in 2015, to join the Income Tax Department as an Income Tax Officer. As per the wage revision Gazette of 2016, he will not get arrears for those two years, in spite of having been on the salary roll of the Corporation from 2013 to 2015!

This injustice has been going on since 1st August, 1997. 

My sincere advice is that think not only twice but 2000 times before joining LIC of India. And if you do join, serve for full 20 years at least!
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 Kindly refer to my blog post dated 14.04.2015, as follows:

                 No mention of repudiation in the appointment letters!

         In the appointment letters to the employees, nowhere is it mentioned that the employees can't leave service, or that their arrears' payments will be repudiated if they leave service of the Corporation. So how can this clause be introduced, that too with retrospective effect? If at all it has to be introduced, it could be with prospective effect and the same should be mentioned in the appointment letters.
          In fact, some employees who joined LIC in the recent years, have been given appointment letters stating that the wage revisions are due, meaning that they will be eligible for the same when they are notified. But when they resigned from LIC, they were denied the arrears' payments! Shouldn't they have been informed about the repudiation's clause, beforehand, so that they could've made an informed decision?
          Likewise, even after their resignation letters were received by LIC, they should've been intimated accordingly, with respect to this clause. The fact that LIC regularly accepts resignations without doing so, indicates that LIC is not playing fair. It can easily keep the resignations pending and accept them after the notification is made public, so that they aren't deprived of their hard-earned dues.
         The Supreme Court has declared this clause itself to be ultra vires, meaning 'beyond reach' of the Chairman's powers. But obviously, LIC's management thinks that it is beyond any law of the Nation! It is a law unto itself!
          Besides, the Finance Ministry too ratifies this unjust clause in the Wage Arrears' Notification, every 5 years, since 2000; without considering the Supreme Court's judgement.
          LIC, (and the Finance Ministry), it's time for some serious introspection!