Earlier Tuesday, Suresh Kumar Agrawal acting chief of the corporation met with Minister Bhatta and requested him to overrule the board´s decision. According to sources, Agrawal argued that slashing facilities that staff have enjoyed for decades would do ´great injustice´ to them.[break]
Later on the day, the two trade unions of the corporation submitted a memorandum to Bhatta and urged him to revoke the board´s decision which they termed as high handedness. They even threatened to resign enmass, jeopardizing operations of the state-owned petroleum import monopolist, if the government turned deaf ears.
NOC board on Sunday asked the management to instantly cut unnecessarily fuel and other facilities that it has been pledging to staff. Under this, the board asked the management to instantly stop distributing fuel facility, which amounts to cash equivalent to the price of 60 liters of kerosene to each staff every month.
It had also instructed the management to slash clothing allowances provided to the staff from existing Rs 19,000 to Rs 21,000 per annum to Rs 7,500.
Likewise, the board also asked the management to stop its practice of dual payment of medical allowances to the staff.
Under the existing practice, NOC had been providing medical allowances equivalent to a month´s salary to junior staff and two months´ salary to senior officials every year and also paying them the medical allowance equivalent to the same amount for the whole tenure of service at the time of retirement.
Though the NOC staff flayed the board´s decision, Minister Bhatta, speaking at a program in the afternoon, said the decision was rationale and prudent.
“The board has not suggested for complete revocation of facility, but asked the management to make it fairer. It is perfectly fine decision,” said Bhatta.
Referring that none of the NOC staff were presently using kerosene stove, Bhatta said the board´s recommendation to provide a cylinder of gas for free every month was fair enough. “If NOC enforced just this decision, it will save around Rs 20 million to the corporation,” said a NOC source.
Likewise, if the management slashed the clothing allowance to a level of civil servants it will save around Rs 4.80 million per annum, he said adding that elimination of double payment of medical benefits will enable the corporation save in the range of Rs 300,000 to Rs 600,000 per staff (at present salary structure) at the time of retirement.
“Together the reform could save around Rs 30 million to the corporation every year. Though the amount appears peanuts when compared with its turnover, it will help to bring down the administrative cost significantly,” said the source.
Currently, NOC is charging 50 paisa on each liter of petroleum product to finance its overhead cost.
Following the resignation warning, Minister Bhatta called a meeting with the employee unions´ officials in the evening. As the meeting was still on when this news was filed, the outcome of the talks could not be ascertained.
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