GIC Re staff for wage revision at par with LIC

Long-Overdue Demand

- GIC Re employees still working on a decade old salary structure

- Their salary not revised since 2012

- Staff allege that management and DFS making a deliberate effort to avoid wage settlement

GIC Re is the only PSU and a unique financial institution in the world, which generated a net profit of Rs13,266 crore during the period under consideration for wage revision between 2012 and 2017 with just 524 employees and paid Rs4,586.65 crore as dividend along with tax on profit to the govt

Mumbai: The General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) employees along with other four state-run general insurance companies (New India, United, National & Oriental) want wage revision at par with LIC. LIC employees had got wage revision to the tune of 16 per cent last year, whereas the PSGIC employees are likely to get 12 per cent. Their wage revision is due since August 1, 2017.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Trilok Singh, GIEAIA, an umbrella body of all four PSGICs and GIC Re, said, "we have made various representations before the chairman GIPSA, and CMDs of various state-run non-life insurance companies including GIC Re, demanding that PSGIC staff must get wage revision at 16 per cent at par with LIC."

GIC Re is the sole Indian reinsurer with a networth of more than Rs55,650 crore. Owned by the central government, it has been identified as one of the domestic systematically important companies. It provides reinsurance solutions to direct life and non-life insurance companies in the Indian market as well as worldwide through its branches and joint ventures/subsidiaries and has been ranked 15th amongst the top-50 global reinsurance groups. It is a public-listed company in the Indian stock market. Its initial public offering (IPO) in 2017 was one of the largest by an Indian entity to date, with a valuation of Rs11,372.64 crore. GIC Re, being a public-sector company requires go-ahead from the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, for the revision of their employees' salaries. In the past, GIC Re's wage revision used to get cleared by DFS immediately after LIC of India. However, this time almost all public-sector banks and LIC's wages have been revised more than a year ago whereas GIC's wage revision is still pending, says a letter, which has been written by Joint Forum of Employees and Officers in Public-Sector General Insurance Companies to the Department of Financial Services.

GIC Re employees are still working on a decade old salary structure which has not been revised since 2012. GIC Re employees' Unions/officers' associations have been continuously following up on this matter and have sent numerous letters and e-mails to its management & DFS, but so far, all of their efforts have been futile. It appears that GIC Re management and DFS are making a deliberate and intentional effort to avoid making the long-overdue wage settlement that has been due since August 1, 2017. It should be emphasized that GIC Re is the only PSU and a unique financial institution in the world, which generated a net profit of Rs13,266 crore during the period under consideration for wage revision between 2012 and 2017 with just 524 employees and paid Rs4,586.65 crore as dividend along with tax on profit to the government.