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CONTENTS

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1. EDITORIAL 2

2. VIEW POINT 4National President Com. Uttam Jagdane speaks

3. PERSPECTIVE 5From the Secretary General’s desk

4. COVER STORY 7Eminent Economist S. Gurumurthy explains why the stock marketpractically does not reflect the economic state of the country

5. ORGANISATIONAL ROUNDUP 9A brief scan of all organisational activities across the country

6. MEDIA WATCH 10All relevant news about the industryin the media

7. THINK ABOUT YOU 12An article by Dr. N. GopalaKrishnan, on better and value based life

8. LEGAL CORNER 13

9. CIRCULARS 14

10. HEALTH WATCH 15The Indian Science of yoga, to which the western world turns forpeace and health.

11. CHARTER OF DEMANDS 17

12. KNOW YOUR FACTS 20

OF INSURANCE FIELD WORKERS

Vol XXII Book No 4 November 2007

NEWS BULLETIN

Chief EditorR. Jayprakash

Associate EditorK. VenkateshS. Sreekumar

EditorsJ. BaburajanM. B. Vinod

Please sent yoursuggestions, articlesand contribution to

The EditorNews BulletinKalvit BhavanCapital HeightsPlamoodu, PattomTrivandrum - 4ormail ateditornf@gmail.com

The views &opinion expressedin the articles neednot necessarily bethat of NFIFWI

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EDITORIAL

FINALLY GOOD WILL THRIVE

Yet another Deepavali moves on after commemorating the successful fight of Goodover Evil. The attack of evil forces on the good has been portrayed in all epics and historicalbooks. This has been happening from i.e immemorial and will continue to happen as longas people with narrow mindedness and evil personal designs are found at the helm of affairsbe it the nation, the institution or the society. There will be only slight modifications in theiractions the base effect will always be the same i.e. evil will always try to crush or overcomethe good.

The attack by the LIC Management on the Development Officers is no different fromthe above situation. The extravagant expenditure and out dated innovations of themanagement were questioned by the National Federation, keeping in mind the well beingof LIC. This resulted in an all out attack against the Development Officers. The aim was tosilence the critics and crush them so that nobody else would dare to question future actions.Finally when market share started coming down and conventional premium income touchedrock bottom, the same management came running to us shedding crocodile tears. Like theKartha in the Hindu Undivided Family whose evil influence and deeds made the familydebt ridden, these people give their own explanation for their action. Remember ultimatelyGood will overcome evil.

In erstwhile joint families the industrious members would partake in farming orfamily business and run it successfully bringing prosperity to the family. When the familyprospers in this fashion the non contributing lazy Karthas who enjoy the proceeds withouta drop of sweat falling from his brow and having illicit relationship to kill the time will,under their instigation and provocation become suspicious of their hardworking brethren.They will start interfering and when questioned will turn against them, with enimity andlabel them as arrogant. Then with the motive of blocking their success they will proceed toreduce the cultiviable area or change the pattern of cultivation or stop the traditional andsuccessful family business and start new and unknown businesses. All this just to be one upon their own brethren and to cover up their own inaction. Saying there is a large demandfor cocoa, the traditional farm land and rubber estates are converted into cocoa farms bydestroying the existing crops, to plant the cocoa trees. When harvesting time comes theprice of coca will have fallen and the blame for the loss is put on somebody elses shoulder.To overcome this loss and to save face instead of admitting their mistake they will turn tovanilla cultivation which has become lucrative. In time this market will also fall. Withoutstudying the weather or soil condition this experimentation from one product to anotherwill lead to further losses and the blame will be put on the shoulders of the hardworkingindustrious members and the land will be sold off or the seeds prepared for the traditionalcultivation will be utilized for subsistence.

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The present LIC Management is no different from the above. The traditional businessthat was marketed so wonderfully by the Development Officers and Agents bringing namefor the Corporation, due to external influences, was diverted to new products which wereloss making ventures in the long run. Direct Agents Branch, Career Agents Branch etc werethe primary experiments. When these began to make losses, to cover up the same, the servicingof good SSS policy institutions were transferred there. Soon Direct Agents Branch Systemwas stopped. This has made way for Corporate Agency system. Soon many of them closeddown due to lack of sustainability. Now the new trend of corporate agents is to procurebusiness through the money chain system of network marketing. If a person takes a policyand brings four new persons for taking policy, his premium will be refunded and as the chaindevelops downwards a portion of the commission is paid to him. No IRDA licence is requiredand there is no commitment to anyone. Anybody can be canvassed for an LIC policy, noholds barred. Finally without proper life selection when early claim shoots up the explanationgiven to the Government and to the public is by shifting the entire blame to the poorDevelopment Officers and the agents. The bad name and loss that comes to the institution isnot a bother at all. Another new innovation is through Bancassurance. If anything isquestioned the Development Officers income is cut GOIBS may only a tip of the iceburg.

The coming of ULIP’s and their misselling is another innovation. All Branches andDivisional offices are promising immense returns through leaflets and notices throwing allconditions and regulations of IRDA to the wind whoever questions this will face punitiveaction is the stand of the authorities. This has broken the backbone of LIC’s income i.e theconventional premium. When IRDA questioned the unethical selling of the ULIP plans theblame was put on the shoulders of the poor Development Officers and Agents through newsitem in the media.

Now the latest innovation is the Financial Service Executives appointed on Contract.Any person working on contract will have only commitment to himself and not to the institution.For the people who are waiting to get a share of the proceeds from such contract appointmentand other newer innovations this will seem harsh and to the point but in the present systemfacts have become stranger than fiction.

The one point that comes out already from all of the above facts is that the LICManagement has only one enemy in its eyes. The Development Officer Class which must betotally annihilated from the rolls of LIC so that no other class will again dare to question itsulterior motives. It will have the total freedom to carry through its hidden agendas even if itis of dire outcome for LIC.

The management has forgotten the most important point i.e. the working classespecially the National Federation will not bow to such heinous methods but will fight toothand nail until we come out victoriously. For ultimately only GOOD and TRUTH will win.One last word to the management “PLEASE REMEMBER ALWAYS, HOW YOU BECAME WHATYOU ARE i.e. DON’T FORGET YOUR ROOTS OR YOU MAY LOSE YOUR IDENTITY.”

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VIEW POINT

Uttam Laxmanrao JagdhaneAll India President, NFIFWI

Dear comrades,

Namaste !

I am sure that you might have liked and welcomed the renewed news bulletin. Please continue readingit and if possible collectively during branch meetings. This will give a latest update about organization, information,ample knowledge and total transparency of different issues taken with Management, IRDA, Government andwithin Organization. I appeal again to you all, to register yourselves on website, browse it daily and give immediateand frank feedback to update website. Also send in your e-mail ID’s to your divisional leaders to get informationwithin short time. Friends after National Executive of Siliguri your divisional leaders might have informed the decisionstaken in National Executive and might have transpired a gist of the proceedings to you. As I have mentionedpreviously , organization is passing through tough time. We have always felt that everybody wants to abolish thisclass of development officers , but every member should keep in mind that intermediataries ( i.e. Dev. Officers ) cannever be abolished in the life insurance sector in general and Life Insurance Corporation of India in particular. The 3-tier system works only in LICI [i.e. the agent , the development officer and the branch support] and this isthe major strength of our struggle. We should not forget that National Federation has never lost any worthy battle.May it be fighting against :increasing FDI cap, black circular of recommendation for agency act 1999, the gradedsystem or the unethical sale of ULIP. We have fought for public cause since the black shadows of Malhotracommittee were foreseen. Our main concerns after opening of insurance sector are :-

! To avoid siphoning of money! Security to policy holders’ money! Employment security and their benefits should not be hampered

And we have very much succeeded in that . After seven years ( of opening of sector) we have found thatthe battle should be rigorous now. Long term savings is the strength of LICI but somehow the elements who wantto disturb LICI have succeeded temporarily and have changed the mentality of proposers or policyholders , toinvest their money in short term plans. But organization feels this may hamper the renewal premium income andinfrastructure investment by LICI to Government of India. After introduction of GOIB in Aug 2004 our resentmentcontinues and we feel that it has worked too. From every corner the insurance field workers are disturbed. Manyelements want alternate channels to be more effective but their intentions were in vain .

We have however found that the results of resentment are

! Drastic downfall of market share in the past 3 years! Net agency addition of LICI has gone down drastically! Growth rate and budget achievement percentage has gone down! Renewal premium has also gone down ( which is the oxygen of any life insurance industry)! Renewal commission of LICI agents has reduced

We wish that all those concerned who want to really run this Life Insurance Corporation Of India with betterperformance will take stock of the situation and will act accordingly. Meantime within the organization we havebecome more strong and history has witnessed that whenever somebody has attacked our organization theorganization has emerged stronger still. With this background we are on the negotiating table. I appeal to all themembers of our National Federation to contribute their might to this great organization for great cause. I alsoappeal to send proper representation to Federal Council 2008, which will be held at Chandigarh in Jan 2008 ,under able leadership of North Zone. I call upon every member of National Federation to take up the task ofclearing all outstanding levies, membership and News Bulletion subscription. Financial discipline is must forevery great organization especially like our National Federation Of Insurance Field Workers Of India.

Wishing you all the best and happy days ahead.

National Federation Zindabad !!! Workers Unity Zindabad !!!

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FROM THE DESK OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL ………..

The first issue of our News Bulletin publishedfrom Trivandrum i.e Oct’07 was released at theNational Executive committee meeting held atSiliguri on the 26th and 27th of October 2007.Wehave despatched the first issue to all the divisionswho had given their address list. Your feedbackswill help us improve.

The National Executive committeemeeting was held at Siliguri and we had a veryconstructive NEC deliberating and concludingmany important agendas. The preparation ofthe Charter of Demands was a major workundertaken and after a threadbare discussion itwas passed for presenting it to the Chairman ofLIC of India. We submitted the charter ofdemands to our chairman on the 29th ofOct’2007.The details are available on ourwebsite. The main focus of NEC was on theongoing discussions with the management onthe review of GOIB scheme and themanagements insistence to change the worknorms. The NEC was unanimous in it’s opinionthat “ We should not surrender or compromiseany aspect of work norm which will affect ourbasic job security for the sake of money”.Incentive Bonus should be discussed separatelyand the management should honor the promiseof “Review of GOIB Scheme” which waspromised during the last 3 years. The stand ofthe National Federation is that we are alwaysprepared and willing to discuss any matterconcerning the Development officers and thatReview of GOIB Scheme should be discussedseparately without clubbing with any othermatter. The special rules 1989 is a historicMemorandum of Understanding reachedbetween the management and NFIFWI signedby both parties after a struggle of 11 long years.The unilateral imposition of Work Norms in 1977had even witnessed the termination of our greatleader and then Secretary General Late.Shri.S.W.Kalwit. We will take all steps and

measures to protect the interests and securityof Development officers especially in acompetitive scenario when the management hascurtailed the benefits and denied the expensesfor marketing. The management is unwilling toaccept the fact that the cost of procuringbusiness has gone up steeply.

The management is experimenting theTPA system in conducting medical examination.This system is causing lot of hardships tocustomers, agents and development officers andis having lot of contradictions. We had a detaileddiscussion with the central office. They haveasked us to put up written complaints againstthe deficiency in services by TPA’s. We call uponall of you to put up complaints from customersand agents against the deficiencies.

The Alternate channels are a parallel forcebeing developed. The alternate channels areresorting to unethical and illegal marketingpractices of multi level marketing system. Ourstand is to expose the misdeeds of the alternatechannels. The management is incurring hugeexpenses in building up the alternate channelsand in offering exclusive treatment to thealternate channels. The recruitment ofFINANCIAL SERVICE EXECUTIVES is beingstrongly objected by NFIFWI. We have beendemanding for recruitment of corporate agentsand brokers and entrusting bancassurance toD.O’s which has been denied. The FSE’s isoutsourcing of work and incurring of higherexpenses.

The unethical selling of ULIP’s andmisselling has to be objected and stopped atany cost. This will erode the hard earned trustof LIC and it’s image. We have called upon allmembers and branch units to give protest letterand return the misleading pamphlets.

The NEC has viewed the non settlementof long pending issues very seriously. The issue

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of PLLI continues to linger on without asolution.We have also conveyed the feelings ofNEC in this regard to the management. Theunscientific recruitment of ADO’s and nonprovision of adequate seating arrangements arebeing protested. Our stand is that themanagement has to discuss with NFIFWI onrecruitment and posting of D.O’s. NFIFWI hasto insist for proper seating arrangement in thebranches or in Satellite branches. On E proposalwe are of the considered opinion that the D.O’sand Agents should not spend their precious timein keying in the E proposal. The marketing forceshould utilize their precious time for moremarketing activities. The LIC offices shouldcontinue the existing practice of keying in theproposals.

The agency recruitment and passing ofthe examination conducted by the InsuranceInstitute of India has become a big issue. Thesteep increase in exam fees is a discouragingfactor for the average unemployed Indian.

We have represented to LIC manage-ment and IRDA. The focus of the Developmentofficers has to be towards recruitment of qualityagents, developing a stable and professionalagency force and concentrating on conventionalbusiness.

The development and strengthening ofNational Federation is the key to our success onall aspects and all fronts. The days ahead are noteasy and we have to be prepared to face toughchallenges. Organisational discipline and financialdiscipline is a must to strengthen ourorganization. The practice of these disciplinecannot be co related to any other aspects. TheNEC deliberated on the need to strengthen thefinancial position of our organization as needfor better liasoning, legal battles and strugglescan be the order of the day in future. The basicneed of a trade union for any employee is tosafeguard the basic rights, dignity and justice.We have to ensure collective bargaining for

common causes and benefits. We request oneand all to try your level best and procure someadvertisements and sponsorships for the forthcoming Federal Council to help the NFIFWI todevelop a strong fund and become financiallystrong.

The Website and News Bulletin are ourtwo strong arms of communication and let usresolve to make the best use of theses. The NECmeeting decided on the conduct of our nextFederal council at Chandigarh on 18th, 19th and20th of January’2008. The details have alreadybeen sent to you all.

The discussions are going on with themanagement and the next round of discussionis on 13th of Nov’07. We have communicatedto you regularly on all aspects of discussions andall issues. Our stand is clear that we shall not giveany promises but we will assure all of you onething that we shall not surrender any issue withouta proper and reasonable solution and we willcontinuously make all out efforts to settle theissues. Our call to all of you is to remain vigilantand be prepared to implement any call of ourbeloved organization. Participate in the activitiesof NFIFWI and promote brotherhood andcomradeship.

KNOWLEDGE IS OUR POWER! UNITY IS OURSTRENGTH! SELFLESSNESS IS OUR SACRIFICE!

JUSTICE, DIGNITY AND RECOGNITION ARE OURJUST DEMANDS AND RIGHTS!

LIKE AN ARMY KEEP YOUR GUNPOWDERS DRYAND ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR ANY FIGHT.

NATIONAL FEDERATION ZINDABAD…….. SAVELIC, PROTECT LIC……..

Your’s Comradely

R.JAYPRAKASHSecretary General, NFIFWI

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‘The first 10000 took over 20 years; the next camein just 20 months. At $1.58 trillion market cap, Indiais No 9 in the world. Superpower 2020?’ This ishow a leading financial daily editorialised its newson the Sensex touching 20K on October 29. ThisSensex hyping is not the isolated endeavour of onenewspaper. This is fast becoming a media, evennational, obsession. It seems a collective effort ison to define the Indian economy through theBombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index.

A day’s setback in the index drives the FinanceMinister to the TV screen to say things so that itgoes up again. The Sensex makes money on paperfor all stock market clients. Those who properlytime their entry and exit into and from the marketeven encash it, of course with some luck. But howwill the Sensex surge make India a superpower by2020? The media claims that the Sensex has driventhe nation’s wealth to over $1.5 trillion! Thesebanner headlines do not feature just in financialdailies whose readership and the customers ofDalal Street overlap.

Even the media that normally reserves its frontpages for politics, for Dr Manmohan Singh andMs Sonia Gandhi, for Messrs L. K. Advani andKarunanidhi, Lalu Prasad and Mulayam, have nowturned Sensex-sensitive. The result: The rise ofthe index is more attractive as media news todaythan the news of Shilpa Shetty’s adventures orSanjay Dutt’s bail or jail news and the like thatdominated headlines some time back.

But the shift to the Sensex as the new icon doesnot make the newspapers any more serious, northe economic debate any more profound. On thecontrary, the stock market index trivialises nationaleconomic debate as much as, if not more than, theother icons trivialised most national concerns ofthat time. Nor is the trust in Sensex as the index ofIndia emerging as a superpower by 2020 any morecredible than Shilpa’s supporters’ trust that thepublic kiss would promote AIDS awareness! Isthis verdict too strong?

Stock market: Disconnected from national savingsS. Gurumurthy

The Sensex surge…Sedating the nation into complacency

Blinds the Nation

This takes us to the role of the Sensex and that ofthe stock market and BSE-listed companies in thenational economy. Yes, the Sensex story blinds thenation; distracts it from more serious economicissues. Worse. Nothing could be sillier thanmeasuring the wealth of a nation through an equitymarket index. The market cap of the listed stockson the BSE is today estimated by some at Rs 1.58trillion, or over Rs 63 lakh crore. This is over 150per cent of the national GDP at current prices!

Does this indicate national prosperity? At any rate,is it sustainable, even for a few months? Some ratehike somewhere, and it is all gone, back to squareone. Just a couple of facts will demolish the myththat the Sensex or market-cap captures India’seconomic prowess or prosperity.

First, only less than 3 per cent of national householdsavings get into the stock market. So, Dalal Streetmust have far less a percentage of households asclients for the stocks it offers. In contrast, morethan half of the households in the US are connectedto stock market. Thus, the role of New York stockexchange in the US is incomparably different fromthat of Dalal Street.

Most Indian savers-and they are among the topsavers in the world-do not like the flavour of stocks.They were no fools because they did not obligetheir Finance Minister who kept advising them foralmost a year to buy stocks and not get boggeddown in banks deposits.

The critical fact is that Indians seek ‘safety-first’investment avenues. They have to protect theirsavings as they have to take care of their socialsecurity themselves. They cannot leave that job toDr Manmohan Singh, nor can Dr Singh assumethat responsibility. They have to provide for theirold age, for their parents, for their ill health, fortheir children and, sometimes, even for near anddear relatives.

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The US Picture

See the contrast. The US government relieves itscitizens from such excruciating obligations. It hasnationalised family functions into public works andthus encouraged the savers to take risks. So, theygo to the New York Stock Exchange. If the Indiangovernment too assures Indians that it will take careof their social security, as the US government does,then more Indians will perhaps indulge in the‘intelligent gambling’ that happens on Dalal Street.

Second, it is not just that less than a 10th of theIndian families access the stock market ascompared to the percentage in the US that is hookedto stocks. The role of the Sensex and the BSE-500companies in India’s macro-economics is minimal,if not relatively negligent. The Sensex companiescontribute to less than 1 per cent of the nation’sGDP and the share of the entire BSE/NSE listedcompanies is perhaps less than 4 per cent. Actually,the entire corporate sector, listed on the boursesand unlisted, accounts for just 14 per cent of GDP,or thereabouts.

Buoyed by foreign money

The Indian savings-to-GDP ratio has topped 32 percent last year and is expected to go up, year onyear. But with these saving largely reserved forsafe investments, the risky stock market is open todomination by foreign money. So it is not Indianmoney that drives or sustains the BSE and the NSE.The Indian stock market is more identified with theIndian geography than with Indian savings or Indianmoney. When foreign money rushes in, the Sensexgoes up and national wealth surges. And, when itleaves, the story is the other way round. Thus, theturbo charge for the Sensex surge today comesfrom nomadic global money in search of investmentarbitrage all over the world.

As India is perceived as charging forward, the globalsurplus capital is rushing to India. Look at theanatomy of this nomadic money, part of which hasno address. The investment from foreigninstitutional investors in the BSE stocks is put at$193 billion in June 2007. Out of this, the investmentthrough the faceless offshore money, through themuch discussed P-Notes (Participatory Notes), isabout $70 billion.

The Citi group has estimated the foreign ownershipof the top 500 BSE stocks at 22 per cent, up from12 per cent six years ago. The other owners of the

BSE stocks are: promoters and government 54 percent, domestic mutual funds and insurancecompanies 10 per cent, and the public 10 per cent.These top 500 BSE companies account for 90 percent of the entire Indian bourses.

If the market cap of the Indian stock market is$1.53 trillion, the top 500 of BSE-listed corporatesaccount for over $1.35 trillion. Does that mean thatthe repatriable foreign ownership of the top BSE500 is $297 billion? The cash in dollars that camein to get the right to this kind of return was perhapsless than a third of this amount. This single itemcan dynamite not only the stock market, but theeconomy itself.

Bubble in making?

In this hype, few would dare suggest that thepresent Sensex surge is a bubble in the offing. Yet,some have openly questioned the surge as a rallyfor good. One has even editorially warned of abubble in the making. Such saner voices are theonly hope against the mass Sensex hysteria.

The Finance Minister is obviously on Cloud Nine.The Sensex seems to have mesmerised even thetrained economist in the Prime Minister. Persuadedby the index reaching 20K, even he has said:“Everything seems to be positive.”

It needs no seer to say that the Sensex surge isglobally driven. No one can say how long it willlast and how soon it will end. It is de-linked fromnational savings and investment models. It has allthe characteristics of a bubble and a global one. Itcan be pricked at any time by a small turn in globalfinancial flows, such as a rate hike by the US Fed.

The sooner the Indian economic debate movesaway from the anchor of the Sensitive Index andthe benchmark of the BSE-500, the better it is forthe nation. It is sedating the nation intocomplacency. This is a Small India which isdelegitimising the Greater India. India Inc is lessthan a sixth of the Indian economy. And India Inclisted on BSE is less than 4 per cent of India as aneconomy. Of which the Sensex accounts for just 1per cent of India’s GDP. Sensex is just the tail andshould be kept within its limits as the tail. It canwag. But it should not wag the dog. But that isprecisely what is happening today, thanks to someof the best minds in the country and the mediaequating the rise of the Sensex with India’s ascent.

(Courtesy BusinessLine dated 6th November 2007)

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ORGANISATIONAL ROUND – UP

Golden Jubilee Celebrations& 24th BiennialZonal Council – South Zone

The Golden Jubilee celebrations and theZonal Council was held at Greater Chennai on23rd and 24th September 2007. For the firsttime more than 1000 delegates and observersparticipated through out the zone.

All the comrades of Chennai Divisions I& II deserves kudos and applause for theexcellent arrangement made under the ableleadership of Com. S. Anand and Com. K.P.Vasudevan, General Secretaries of ChennaiDivision I & II respectively.

To mark the 50th anniversary of theNational Federation, Golden Jubilee Celebrationswere arranged on 23rd September 2007. Afterthe welcome address by Com. S. Anand our ZonalPresident Com. Jacob C. Kushumalayam hadgiven his presidential address.

Former Central Minister HounourableMadam Jayanthi Natarjan inaugurated thecelebrations. In her inaugural address she hasassured to support all our genuine demands. Thefunction presided over by Honourable Mr. SureshRajan, Minister for Tourism, Government ofTamilNadu.

Mr. P. Anbalagan, MLA, Palaniconstituency (ex Development Officer of MaduraiDivision) & Mrs. K. Gayathri Devi, MLA,Maduranthagam Constituency (Wife of Com. K.P.Vasudevan , convenor of the Zonal Council) havegraced the occasion by their august presence andvaluable address.

The Galaxy of our present and formerleaders have really encouraged all the participantsof the Zonal Council. Our former SecretaryGeneral Com. G.V.S Mani, Former ZonalPresidents Com. M. Aravindakshan, Com.S.Alphonesraj have participated and conveyed theirbest wishes.

Our former leaders Com. V. Rajadurai,Com. Kesavamurthy, Com. M.P. Reddy, Com.

N. Gopalakrishnan have graced the occasion bytheir valuable presence.

All the veteran leaders were honoured atthe council by the hands of our All India Presidentand Secretary General. We sincerely thank all ourformer leaders for their august presence andvaluable advices.

Business Session

After the welcome address by ZonalPresident Jacob C. Kusumalayam, the ZonalSecretary has placed his detailed report about theactivities of South Zone for the last two years,inclusive of five additions which were suggestedby Zonal E.C.

Our All India Resident Secretary Com.N.R.Thathare has explained the present and latestsituation about the issues concerning All Indiaparticularly GOIB.

Com. Uttam Jagdane, All India Presidentin his one hour maiden and eloquent address hasmotivated the members and given a call to be moreunited to strengthen the organisation which is theneed of the hour.

Our roaring lion Com. R. Jayaprakash,Secretary General in his 75 minutes address hasexplained in detail the path of the Federation, thedetailed discussion with the management aboutGOIB, MOU and pending issues from July 9th totill date. He stressed the need for strengtheningthe organisation and given a call to support theorganisation.

In the elections held for the term 2007-2009 the following Office Bearers were electedfor the Zone.

President : Jacob C.Kusumalayam,(KottayamDivision)

Vice President : R. Ramaraj(Madurai Division)

General Secretary : B. ManoharanChennai Division –I

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MEDIA WATCH

IRDA to change accounting norms forInsurance Companies

HYDERABAD: Insurance RegulatoryDevelopment Authority (IRDA) is looking atchanges in the accounting standards for insurersin sync with global norms to improve disclosuresand protect policy holders’ interests.

The Indian accounting standards will fully convergewith the International Financial ReportingStandards by 2011.

Private insurance companies have mushroomedover the last 7-8 years since the sector was openedto competition. Many of them are offering a varietyof plans: insurance schemes, for instance, arebundled with investment schemes, giving mutualfund like returns. This has led to complexities inaccounting.

“Greater transparency in accounting will berequired, especially when insurance companies gofor an initial public offering to raise funds. Thiswill happen in the next two to three years. We aretherefore looking at changes in the accountingframework in convergence with the IFRS,” saidIRDA member CR Muralidharan.

SINGLE PREMIUM plunges downalarmingly for Life Insurers

KOLKATA/MUMBAI : Despite the phenomenalsurge in the Sensex in recent times, sale of single-premium life insurance products, including unit-linked policies (Ulips), has dipped to abysmallylow levels. This has pulled down the overall firstpremium income (FPI) growth numbers for theentire industry which recorded a tiny 12% growthduring the first half of 2007-08 against aphenomenal 162% jump in the first six months of2006-07.

Decline in growth rate of Ulip sales was mainlydue to introduction of a three-year lock-in period

for unit-linked products by Insurance Regulatory& Development Authority (IRDA) from June2006 before which such policies were selling likehot cakes. Some analysts believe that agents overtime also realised that commissions from thesepolicies were one-time and small vis-à-vistraditional policies which can offer commissionsto the extent of 30-40%. Additionally, a largenumber of companies have also realised thatsingle-premium policies do not add value to thecompany in the long run.

According to data released by IRDA, the lifecover industry clocked a negative growth of 26%for single-premium policies during the periodunder review against a 221% in the previouscorresponding period. The decline in single-premium products has particularly hit LifeInsurance Corporation of India (LIC) hard, forits total FPI registered a negative growth of 3%during the first half of 2007-08 against aphenomenal 178% jump in the previouscorresponding period. A large rise in premiumincome at LIC during the first half of 2006-07was backed by a strong 239% growth in FPIfrom individual single-premium policies whichsaw a negative growth of 29% in the period Aprilto September 2007. LIC officials were notavailable for comments.

Incidentally, the entire industry has not also beenable to hold on to growth in sale of traditionalproducts, including non-single premium policies.FPI from these policies declined from 125% inthe first half of 2006-07 to 42% during the firsthalf of the current financial.

The trend of plunging FPI growth for single-premium policies was pretty much the fate ofprivate insurers who had earlier seen growthrates during the first half of 2006-07 at 103%decline to 13% during the period under review.Traditional policies, however, saw acomparatively smaller decline in growth rate from114% in first half of 2006-07 against 85%

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achieved during 2007-08. Nevertheless, FPI fromfor the entire private sector saw growth ratedecline from 114% in the first half of 2006-07 to67% during the first half of 2007-08.

For instance, a decline in sale of single-premiumpolices, including Ulips, was most noticeable forICICI Prudential. The private sector insurancemajor saw growth rate of these policies declinefrom 340% during the first half of 2006-07 to25% in the first half of the current fiscal. Thecompany’s overall growth in FPI decline to 50%during the current period from 113% during theprevious corresponding period.

Bajaj Allianz, on the other hand, also saw anegative growth rate of 54% in FPI from single-premium policies against a 58% growth achievedin the first half of 2006-07. The company wasalso hit, as it was asked to discontinue actuarial-funded products which formed a large part of itspremium income last year.

LIC targeting 7800 crores from GroupInsurance.

LIC, with more than one lakh customers in thegroup insurance segment, is targeting a newpremium income of Rs 7,800 crore from thegroup category this year. In a related effort, thelife insurance major has introduced a groupinsurance product, the ‘group critical illness rider’on Thursday.

“For group alone, we have a fund size of Rs60,000 crore. The introduction of the rider willhelp in substantially increasing the premiumincome form this segment,” said LIC chairmanTS Vijayan in Chennai .

The rider scheme, unlike mediclaim does not workon a reimbursement basis. A person is paid a partof the sum assured on being diagnosed with aparticular disease. The scheme covers criticalillnesses such as cancer, heart attack, stroke andkidney failure. The scheme covers the 18-64 age

group and has a minimum cover amount of Rs50,000.

He added the volatility in markets would not affectthe demand for unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips)by policyholders. “Of our policies, more than 90%constitute Ulips and the rest are traditionalpolicies,” he said.

LIC becoming leading builder in the Country

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is outbiddingsome of the leading private realty players toacquire huge tracts of land all over the country.

LIC, which manages over Rs 6 lakh crore of assets, has spent around Rs 100 crore a year until 2006-07 . This fiscal, LIC is reported to have boughtland worth Rs 400 crore. “LIC has alreadyacquired tracts of land in Delhi, Jaipur, andKolkata.

LIC has made an acquisition of a 5-acre plot ofland on Kolkata’s Eastern Metropolitan Bypassfor a mind-boggling Rs 276.2 crore. The land haspresumably been bought for constructing an“investment building” , which is basically astructure that will help the insurance major earnvery good returns over a period of time. Sourcessaid that the land was purchased to set up an`investment building’ either an IT park or acommercial complex to be rented out. While alarge number of the LIC’s old properties are non-performing assets generating rentals of less thanRs 10 per month, new properties are generatingdecent returns.

Mr Dasgupta said that LIC would engage a thirdparty to build hi-tech structures.

Currently, LIC owns nearly 1,571 properties inIndia and some overseas. Of these, some 374-odd LIC real estate portfolios are primarilyinvestment properties. It also has some free-holdlands in metros, a majority of which will be usedto house offices or employee families. The surplusmay be used to boost the firm’s rental income.

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Think about YOU !Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan

Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage, Thiruvananthapuram -18

(gopaln@India.com www.iish.org-0471-2490 149 / 04885-240236 / 9447003030 / 9447090149)

Think about YOU ! We are living on the surface of the globe earth for about 26,500 days (average), takingalmost 60 MT food ! Breathing everyday about 23,000 times ! And every breath is leading you towards graveyard! One day you will have to go back leaving your possessions and positions ! Remember your date of birth isknown, date of death is ‘fortunately’ not known ! Have you ever thought the following ?

What is the purpose of this life ? Elevate ourselves every day ! Never denigrate ourselves, our family,society and nation ! Know that we ourselves are our friends and we ourselves are our enemies ! (BhagavathGeetha). So the purpose of life is growing to a higher level each day, to make our life fruitful and useful, for ourselvesand also for all those who are connected with us, directly or indirectly !

For leading a useful and fruitful life what is to be done ?: Use your EARS properly, EYES selectively,TONGUE carefully and use your MIND peacefully !

Use your ears for learning as much as possible from all the possible sources. Listen good and make otherslisten to good ! Use your eyes to understand the world. See good and make others see good . Use your tongueand communicate to get knowledge whenever you get opportunity for a discussion. Inform your mind that; there aresuccess +failure, ups + downs, happiness + unhappiness, profit +loss, enemies + friends, …..in everyone’s life.Try to make every negative into positive. Convert challenges into opportunities. None wants to see a crying/weepingface. Everyone wants to see the smiling face. Keep it up always. Happiness and unhappiness, Success andfailure…etc are not permanent. Science cannot solve all the human problems. Hence integrate the science andspirituality, integrate the good from old and new . Integrate the experienceable knowledge and experimentableknowledge. Take good from everywhere. Do not blindly follow anything or any idea. Use the logical analyses +rational thinking + scientific knowledge +unbiased approach. Integrate Science with values in your life.

Follow good acharas/ customs and rituals scientifically, get up atleast 5.30 am, sit on the bed for about 30secs (if possible a prayer), take bath, spend 10 mins for prayer in the morning and evening. Reduce non vegetarianfood. Avoid it atleast before going to school/ office and positively avoid non veg during school/office time. Do goodto others, remember that for every action there is an equal reward/action ( not reaction).

Think about your PARENTS! They gave you the opportunity to come to the world and enjoy everythinghere. They spent major share of their time, energy and money with a prayer that you should achieve all the possiblein life. They did their maathru dharma and pitru dharma. You have to do putra/ putree dharma. Look them after tilltheir last breath, particularly when they are old . Remember that the blessings of the parents are the greatestblessings, far higher than that of god.. Spend atleast half an hour with your parents/ family members everyday fordiscussing your achievements and problems. Take food with them atleast once in everyday. We do not know howlong we can be with our parents or they can be with us. Take blessings of parents before leaving to office/school.Live a happy peaceful married life, never quarrel and waste your energy. None can make your life happy other thanyourself. Our actions/activities are responsible for making a happy or miserable home. Wife and husband havesame status Think about the SOCIETY! There are poor and hungry people - waiting for a day meal, orphans - whohave never seen their parents, old aged and sick - none to look after. Do your best by sharing at least 3 % of yourtime, energy and income for them.

Think about your MOTHERLAND! Out of the 49 civilizations existed on the surface of the globe earth,ours is the only culture, still alive. We should know about our heritage on every branch of knowledge! Do moreresearch and study deep. The civil engineering marvels of Ajanta / Ellora cave temples, Chola/ Chera/ Pandya/temples, Cambay / Mohan Jo Daro. The Delhi & Dhar Iron pillars, Paintings of Ajanta, the Brass & bronze alloymaking technologies. The Glass and ceramics knowledge….. and so on

Know about our mathematical heritage: Kelvins / Gregories / Lebnitz / Euler’s / Newton’s/ Pythagorustheorems, Discovery of sine /cosine / tangent series / Vedic mathematics….. The spectrophotometer of Bhradwaja/knowledge about light / sound / Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle/astronomical/ geographical knowledge: Spherical

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shape of earth/declination/ rotation/ revolution / gravity/ latitude/ longitude / precision equinox / eclipse….Indiansknew about all these…!

Indian heritage on Science & Technology, Mathematics, Astronomy Biotechnology, Ayurveda, Metallurgy,Cermics, Agricultural sciences, Food science, Vastu/ Civil engineering, Music therapy, Yoga, Pranayaama, Customsand rituals, Philosophy, Spirituality, Psychology, Linguistic- sciences, Economics, Management , etc are goingdeep into the hearts of the scholars, thinkers and scientists world over. We, as the beloved children of ourmotherland Bharath, should learn our heritage for *feeling proud of being an Indian, *informing the world that we havediscovered and invented many products/processes/novel ideas/ concepts and * for using the heritage knowledge formaking life, in the 21st century, happy and more fruitful. These knowledge can be adopted and adapted by anyoneand everyone, anywhere in the world. Make everyone a great Indian , let no other parameters like religion,politics, faith, etc thwart us from becoming a good Indian. Let us grow every day by taking one quarter of theknowledge from our teachers, one quarter from others, making one quarter by ourselves and the remaining byaddition, deletion, modification and correction of the knowledge.

Dr. N. GopalakrishnanM. Sc. (Pharmaceutical Chemistry)

M. Sc. (Appl. Chem-Plant products)M. A. (Industrial Sociology)Ph. D. (Plant Biochemistry)

D. Litt. (Doctor of Literature in Science in Sanskrit)Degree Diploma in Journalism and public relations

Senior Scientist in Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies(formerly Research Laboratory), CSIR, Trivandrum.

Hon. Director, Indian, Institute of Scientific Heritage (Regd. Charitable Trust)Visiting faculty member in Universities and Institutes.

LEGAL CORNER

LIC official penalized for rejecting claims

NEW DELHI: In a bid to check rejection of insurance claims on “flimsy” grounds, the Delhi ConsumerCommission has penalised an official of the Life Insurance Corporation for wrongly rejecting a disabledman’s claim and asked him to pay, from his salary, one-fourth of theRs 1.25-lakh relief now awarded to the victim.

Commission president Justice J D Kapoor, while awarding a relief of Rs 1.25 lakh to accident victim RK Seth, said “We order that 25 per cent of the awarded amount shall be deducted from the salary ofthe officer, who was the final authority to take this decision, for such a lop-sided and totally unwarrantedapproach.”

Justice Kapoor said in a strong wordedorder. The Commission’s order came while deciding an appealof Seth, a policy holder and a resident of Janakpuri here,who was rendered 60 per cent disabled in anaccident in October 1994.

The LIC, however, chose to repudiate his claim of Rs one lakh contending he could not be held aspermanently disabled as he could still earn from his business.

Expressing displeasure over the stand taken by the official responsible for rejection of Seth’s claim,the Commission said the insurance company’s argument was “nothing less than logic chopping”.

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CIRCULARSRef: CO / CRM / 606 / 23 16/ 10/ 2007

Re: Payments under No-Docket casesAt the time of policy servicing if any payment is to be made to the policyholder but the concerned docket

is not available in the servicing branch then such “no docket” cases need to be referred to divisional office forsanction of payments. This process causes delay in making payment and results in hardship for the genuinepolicyholder. Hence it has now been decided to authorize the Brach-in-Charge to sanction payments, withinfinancial powers, under “No docket” cases also, without referring the cases to higher offices each has to bedecided on its merits depending on the available alternate records pertaining to the policy in the office concernedand after taking due precautions that the liability under the policy has not been discharged already.

While considering each case, the Branch-in-Charge should satisfy himself about the following points:

Ref: Mktg/A 17. 10. 2007

This is with reference to Gazette Notifications regarding IRDA (Licensing of Insurance Agents)(Amendment) Regulation, 2007 issued on 8th October, 2007 notifying the reduction in training hours. As informedby Insurance Institute of India, the first offline exam with the revised syllabus for 50 hours would be conductedfrom 18th November and the first online exam with the revised syllabus for 50 hours would be conducted from12th November 2007 onwards. In order to encourage more candidates to opt for Online exams, the examinationfee has been revised as follows with effect from 1st November, 2007

i) For Online exams - Rs. 400/- per candidate ii) For Offline exams - Rs. 500/- per candidate

Ref: CO / CRM / 603 / 23 1-10-2007

Re: Re-instatement Of Surrendered policies.Any person/s competent to contract and having right, title and interest in a policy, or authority to deal with

the policy, if it is not his own, may surrender the policy. As per manual provision, if within six months from thedate of surrender of a policy a request is received from the assured for re-instatement of his/her policy; the caseshould be submitted to an Officer not below the rank of A.D.M. for decision.

Hence it has been decided by the competent authority to allow re-instatements of surrendered policies atservicing branch itself and the sanctioning authority for the same would be Branch-in-charge.

Ref : 40/IRDA/AGENCY/CIR/Oct 2007

Re: Clarification on Minimum Educational Qualifications 1Grand of Fresh Agency Licence

This is with reference to Circular dt. 22 nd January, 2002 in above regard. Clause (1) of the said Circular ismodified as below:“(1) Higher Secondary Examination (11th Class)/ PUC (Pre-University Certificate)/ any other examination passedin the year if it has been considered as the eligible class for getting direct admission to the Degree course of therespective University, may be treated as equivalent”

Executive Director

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The Science of Yoga is a complete formof exercise quite different from other forms ofexercises available today. While ordinary formsof exercises concentrate upon the developmentof external muscles only, yoga exercises help todevelopment of the internal as well as the externalmuscles stimulate the glands and other vitalinternal organs as well. Half an hour’s Yogaexercise in a day will make you feel light-weighted and bounding with energy throughoutthe day. If the exercise is done in the evening inaddition to the benefits above you will have anice deep sleep without any disturbance in thenight. You may feel lazy to start the exercise butonce started you will not stop till you completethe exercise. Even discontinuing of the exercisesafter some period will not have any side effecton you.

You can any time restart the yogaexercises, after a long break by starting with thepreliminary steps. Yoga cures many a diseases.Make yoga as part of your daily routine and leada healthy life. Do half an hours Yoga exerciseand Fully enjoy the remaining twenty three andhalf hours of the day.

Our polluted environments, faulty diet,indoor and sedentary occupation unhygienicsurroundings hurry and stress of the modern lifeemotions and sorrows upsets the properfunctioning of involuntary organs and in termaffects the mind and it looses its psychic balance.The digestive system get affected, abdominalmuscles looses it elasticity, hurry and improperfood intake without proper chewing, oftensuppressed call of nature result in stretching thewalls of the bowls accumulated waste pushingupward will result in defective digestion of thesubsequent food in turn causing constipation andirritation in the mucus lining of the stomach,prevents digestion process and result in morefood intake to satisfy hunger, stretching theabdominal wall results in development of potbelly.

YOGA IN DAILY LIFE

Liver the Refinery of the body dues thework of purifying the matters that enters the bodyand the poisonous items are sent out of the bodythrough the urine viscera or sweat. Excessiveimpure matters in the food intake will causeoverworking of the liver will result in slow downor break down of the liver functions. Theseimpurities slowly enter the blood circulationsystem and the poison spreads to the entire body.And according the Part of the body it reaches, itcauses head ache, tiredness, body painsleeplessness giddiness mental depressionirritability loss of temper etc., etc., and will resultin damage to the circulatory system, nervoussystem metabolic system etc.

Human bodies have a tendency offattening after the middle age and the fatteningwill take place at places where there are leastmovements. viz. Abdomen.

It is where the Yoga Exercises step in. Itis one of the three gems of India’s contribution tothe mankind viz. Ayurveda, Kalaripppayattu andYogasanas. Pathanjali Maharshi is the father ofYogasanas. Our ancient Rishis by observationsof the nature around them, meditate upon them,trials and confirmations put into practice thisunique form of exercise and passed on to theposterity. However due to the religiousrestrictions, dogmas attached to this science bywestern countries like America, Canada WestGermany Yoga is a curriculum in Universities.

SIMPLE MEDITATION (or the concentrationtechnique)

This is to be practiced before one startsthe yoga exercise. We are generally engaged invarious activities through out the day and inbetween we are doing the yoga exercises. AS aresult of the activities that we are engaged wemight have incurred heavy physical and mentalexertion. Before starting the yoga we should calm

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our mind and relax our muscles. Ourconcentration also to be directed to the yogaexercise. The technique given below is for thispurpose.

How to practice?

Sit in the most comfortable position that you canlike Sukhasana (any easy pose you would like tosit), Padmasana or Vajrasana (described in detailin the subsequent pages of this note) You can evensit on a chair with arms resting on the armrest.But do not lean on the backrest of the chair. Sitstraight with backbone as straight as possible.Extend the hands and rest it on the knee. Lookstraight. Visualise a spot on the wall in line withyour eyes. Think the spot is the object or formwhich you are most interested. Imagine that youare sitting in a railway track which extends aheadof you to the end of the horizon without any bend.Imagine a train is coming towards you in the trackfrom the horizon. First you will see only a spot.But as it come towards you, you will first seesomething moving towards you, then you will seethe shape of the train, then its engine will becomeclear, then as it comes closed and closer thewriting will be visible, then it fills your vision,overlaps it, then you will see only a part of it andeven it will disappear as it come closer than youreye focus. Imagine the object of your choice inthe place of the train. The moment it fills the visionslowly close your eyes, so that the form is in yourinner vision. Where you see only the object Shutyour ears to other external sounds. Slowly closeyour thoughts also to the object. Be there for afew minutes. Then slowly come back thinkingabout the object slowly opening your eyesvisualize that the train is going away from you inthe track ahead of you towards the horizon. Thereversal of your visualization that first only a partof it then the writing then the Engine then themoving train then the object then the small spotand then nothing. Once you do this do savasana(as described in detail in the subsequent pages ofthis note) for a few minutes. By this time yourbody muscles will be relaxed and your mind might

have been cleared of all other thoughts of theday. Now you are ready for the Yoga Exercises.This will help increase your concentration powermultifold and at the same time given you the muchneeded relaxation. (This is just a guidline for youto start with your yoga life. Study yogasana froma yoga master).

Yogic treatment for various diseases

1. Fatty Body : Paschimothanasanam,supthavajrasanam, mayurasanam, udhiana-bandam, nauli, kapalabhati, dhanurasanam,ardha-malsyendrasanam.

2. Indigestion / Gas Trouble : Udhianabandam,halasanam, sarvangasanam, malsyasanam,pranayamam, dhyanam, savasanam.

3. Constipation : Paschimothanasanam,halasanam, sarvangasanam, makarasanam,shirshasanam.

4. Asthma : Pranayamam, kapalabhati, malsya-sanam, supthavajrasanam, bhujangasanam,shalabhasanam.

5. Diabetics : Paschimothanasanam, halasanam,mayurasanam, ardha-malsyendrasanam,udhianabandam, sarvangasanam, malsya-sanam, shirshasanam, chakrasanam.

6. Hernia : Paschimothanasanam, mayurasanam,udhianabandam, kapalabhati, sarvanga-sanam, malsyasanam, yogamudra

7. Pile : Padmasanam, shalabhasanam,sarvangasanam, malsyasanam, makara-sanam, dhanurasanam, shirshasanam,yogamudra.

8. E.N.T : Malsyasanam, supthavajrasanam,sarvangasanam, simhasanam, pranayanam.

9. B.P (high) : Padmasanam, sidhasanampaschimothanasanam, halasanam, vajra-sanam, dhyanam, savasanam.

10.B.P. (low) : Halasanam, sarvangasanam,paschimothanasanam, vajrasanam,kapalabhati, padmasanam, sidhasanam,dhyanam, savasanam.

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CHARTER OF DEMANDSREVISION OF PAY SCALES

PROPOSED SCALE OF PAY : 13300- 800(2) -14900 – 900(2) – 16700 -970(17) -33200 (with stage to stage fitment)

D.A NEUTRALISATION : we demand for 100% neutralization of dearness allowance on the revised scales.

STAGNATION INCREMENT : It is submitted that there should be a minimum of 5 (five) stagnation increments, onefor every two years of service.

Fitment increment : Anomaly existed in the fitment of pay scale of development officers joining from the class 111should be removed by way of granting one fitment increment in these cases.

ADDITIONAL INCREMENTS : It may be recalled that during the pay revision of 1997 there were anomaly on thefitting in the pay scale. The first 3 stages were bunched. For this irregularity,a good number of Dev. Officers had tosustain financial losses.

HOUSE RENT. ALLOWANCE : METROS :- 35% of Basic Pay without any ceiling, CITY A - 30% of Basic Paywithout any ceiling, CITY B - 25% of Basic Pay without any ceiling, OTHERS - 20% of Basic Pay withoutany ceiling

CITY COMPENSATORY ALLOWANCE : METROS – 10% of Basic Pay without any ceiling, A - Class Cities – 8%of Basic Pay without any ceiling, B – Class Cities – 5% of Basic Pay without any ceiling

HILL ALLOWANCE : Dev ..Officers working at height above 15000 feet - 20% of Basic Pay without any ceiling.Basic Pay Dev. Officers working at height above 10000 feet but less than 15000 feet 15% of Basic Pay without anyceiling. Dev. Officers working at height above 750 feet but less than 10000 feet 12% of Basic Pay without any ceiling

PARADEEP PORT ALLOWANCE : A meager special allowance is paid to those Dev. Officers working in projectarea , We feel it needs to be enhanced proportionately . We place our demand for Rs. 1000=00 per month as“Paradeep Port allowance”

FAST CONVEYANCE AND FIXED CONVEYANCE ALLOWANCE : It should be equivalent to the price of 200 litersof petrol, taking care of running cost, maintenance and minor repairing cost payable along with the monthly salary.

ADDITIONAL CONVEYANCE ALLOWANCE : Additional conveyance allowance should be paid to developmentofficer to encourage and motivate them to increase their production and productivity level as per the agreement of1973.LIC Management should get a clearance from Govt. as per rule 191 of IT act 1961 for exempting FCA & ACAfrom Tax at source. This element should be out of the purview of the general percentage increase of wage revisionand also out of the definition of annual remuneration for the cost ratio.

MARKETING & PROCUREMENT EXPENSES : We strongly feel that there must be provision of reimbursement ofthis expanses to all development officers to the tune of Rs 2000/- p.m.

MARKETING RELATIONSHIP ALLOWANCE : An amount of Rs.15,000/= be therefore granted to them for marketingand maintaining relationship with the customer as Marketing Relationship Allowance .

ENTERTAINMENT ALLOWANCE : An entertainment allowance of Rs 1000/- PM be allowed for entertaining customer,policyholder, prospects etc. This should not be included in the cost.

PLLI : We, the National Federation once again through this Charter of Demands urge upon Management of LICof India to look into the matter with all seriousness .and strongly demand for payment of PLLI not in the shape ofEx-gratia & also exclusion of quantum of PLLI from the purview of ANNUAL REMUNERATION of a Dev. Officerand the quantum should be proportionate to the cadre and seniority.

ARREAR PAYMENT : ANY ARREAR PAYMENT SHOULD NOT BE ADDED TO OUR COST

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SPECIAL AREA ALLOWANCE : Dev. Officers posted in border areas or working in insurgency prone areas shouldbe paid 10%of Basic Pay per month . Even for the declared or notified disturbed areas or for the areas affected bynatural calamities , a Special Area Allowance should be paid to the Dev. Officers posted in those places at the rateof 10% of Basic Pay .

RMES (REIMBURSEMENT OF MEDICAL EXPENSES) : Quantum is to be enhanced to Rs. 5000=00 per year.Carrying forward facility should also continue .

GROOMING ALLOWANCE : To cope up with the competitive environment in the insurance market one has to begroomed up and updated in right perspective . We demand that an amount of Rs. 10,000/= be sanctioned to themevery year . This amount should not come under the purview of cost .

SPECIAL PAY : Licentiate –Rs.500=00 per month; Associate ship – Rs.700=00 per month ; Fellowship :-Rs. 800=00 per month ; Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management – Rs. 1000=00 per month ; MBA– Rs. 1200=00 per month. This amount should be out of the purview of the general percentage increase of wagerevision.

GROUP INSURANCE : The existing group insurance scheme to increased to Rs 10,00,000/- with matching personalaccidental benefit. This scheme is also extended to the retired development officer & also those who opted CPF.

FESTIVAL ADVANCE : Limit of Festival Advance should substantially be increased to a minimum of Rs. 20000/-

MEDICAL BENEFITS : Medi-claim limits should be raised to five lacs per year The entire cost of hospitalizationshould be directly paid by the LIC and reimbursement from GIC should be directly to LIC

There should not be any limit of high cost treatment and the restriction to the extent of two times should alsobe removed.

PENSION : * Approval to accord five years credit of service to Dev. Officers who had been recruited at higher age asin the case of Central Govt. Employees where this credit is allowed for Pension . Especially , the provision of thisbenefit must be extended to Dev. Officers joining from agency profession as a very special case .

* Normal and full pension according to rules should be allowed to Dev. Officers terminated under schedule III of thestaff regulations. and who could not opt for or could not be reverted to class III post. *One more option to beextended to the Dev. Officers to come under the ambit of Pension Rules of LIC in lieu of CPF.

GRATUITY : The maximum limit of gratuity should be increased to Rs 6,00,000.

PROVIDENT FUND : PF contribution should be at 12% of the basic pay plus D.A. It is needless to say there ispractically no difference between basic and D.A. Non-refundable PF loan should be allowed to the employeeswithout any pre-condition as in the case of central Govt employees.

LEAVE TRAVEL CONCESSION : The mileage available under LTC rules should be increased to 3000 KMs.Reimbursement facility should be provided to the Dev. Officer at least to the tune of 90% in case of LTC is not availedof as provided to AAI , ONGC , COAL and SAIL employees .Foreign travel should also be included in the LTC rules.

ENCASHMENT OF LEAVE : The existing 240 days be increased to 300 days . Encashment of leave during theservice be allowed for one month in every alternate year without insisting on minimum number of days being surrendered. The FCA cut provision if the privilege leave exceeds 30 days should be done away with .

KIT ALLOWANCE : Kit allowance shall be substantially increased. Personal loan should be granted to employees.

LEAVE : Holidays & Sundays to be excluded from the number of days leave availed by an employee as in the caseof UCIL & Atomic Energy Ltd.

CONFIDENTIAL REPORT : We, demand to withdraw the concept of ACR for Dev. Officer.

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ALLOTMENT OF STAFF QUARTERS : Quarters of minimum of 900 sq. ft. should be allotted to Dev. Officers.

HOUSING LOAN ( I.E.H. LOANS) : The present limit of cadre loan should be increased substantially . Subsidizedquantum of loan is to be raised to 10 lakhs and the additional.. , if any should be sanctioned at the rate of marketinterest .Dev. Officer should be sanctioned second loan in the service period .

EXPENSE RATIO AND ANNUAL REMUNERATION : We strongly and categorically reiterate our demands for thefollowings 1. JOB SECURITY 2. NO REDUCTION OF BASIC WAGES ( PROTECTION OF EARNED INCREMENTS) 3. NO EVER ESCALATING LOAD FOR JUSTIFYING THE NORMS 4. AUTOMATIC ABSORPTION INADMINISTRATIVE WING IN CASE OF FAILURE IN MARKETING WING

We also place on record our strong demand for a natural justice and fair treatment to Dev. Officer as a workman andurge upon Management not to include the following items within the purview of costing for determining the expenseratio while calculating ANNUAL REMUNERATION of a Dev. Officer and that the First year Premium income broughtin by the Development officer should be considered for calculating the cost.

a) Maternity leave period sanctioned to a lady Dev. Officer b) National Holidays c) Sick leave period d) The periodwhen the Dev. Officers are on election duty or any sort of Govt. assignment

FACILITIES FOR WORK : Proper facilities for work are also very essential for quick and spectacular development.Rendering prompt and effective servicing to Policy Holder and Agents has become integral part of functioning of Dev.Officer . In the office premises, following facilities should be extended to the community of Dev. Officers - Every Dev.Officer should be provided with sufficient accommodation in the office premises with enough and reasonable provisionto entertain visitors in a dignified manner . A separate telephone line to be installed in the Dev. Officer enclosure forkeeping.

FACILITIES OF TRADE UNION WORK : A functioning trade union is necessary for healthy development of anyInstitution . A trade union is not a rival to any organization and must not have any enmity with the Management andis a very necessary part and parcel of an Organization . It is therefore submitted that office space be provided atevery divisional head quarters to enable National Federation to run its activities with regular systematic functioningof the union.

SPECIAL LEAVE FOR ORGANISATIONAL ACTIVITIES : The special leave should be granted to the Office Bearersof the Central Federation / Zonal Federation / Divisional Federation while they will be attending meeting of NationalFederation at different places of the Country .

RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL FEDERATION : Since long we have been demanding for recognition of NationalFederation as a trade union . We firmly believe that this recognition will stand us in good stead to grow our sense ofparticipation , more sense of responsibility and much and more involvement to the further growth and prosperity ofour Institution. We fervently urge upon Management to take initiative in the matter of according recognition ofNational Federation .

GUEST HOUSE FACILITY : LIC should open guest houses in all cities throughout the country and increase thenumber of guest houses in all metropolitan cities. LIC should also make arrangement for holiday homes at all theimportant places of interest throughout the country for the use of its emploees. ..

REPRESENTATION IN SPORTS PROMOTION BOARD & SPORTS COMMITTEE : We demand that therepresentative of NFIFWI should be nominated to the Sports promotion board of LIC and included in the sportscommittees at all levels.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS : Workers participation in Management was a long standing demand of the Organizationand it is suggested that the representative of NFIFWI should be inducted as its a member in the Board of Directorsof Life Insurance Corporation of India .

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Know Your Facts

Total First year premium income of LIC of India (Rs. in crore)

Total income of the corporation with bifurcations such as First Premium Income,Renewal Premium Income, Income from the Property etc. for the last 5 years.

Rs. in crore

Financial Single Premium Annual Premium TotalYear Income Income Income

2006-07 26337.13 29862.55 56199.682005-06 14787.84 13727.18 28515.022004-05 8994.82 11654.79 20649.622003-04 5229.83 11752.20 16982.032002-03 5345.96 10626.04 15972.00

The growth in First Premium Income is impressive !The growth in Single Premium Income is even more impressive !

Figures of surrender of ULIP policies(Till date none of the ULIP policies have matured)

Financial Year Number of Policiessurrendered before maturity

2006-07 8892762005-06 1994352004-05 9462003-04 1322002-03 86

The growth of Surrender of policies is the most impressive !

SECRETARY GENERAL ANSWERS YOU

The Secretary General of NFIFWI will answer questions raised by you regarding organizationalmatters. You can mail or write your questions to the address mentioned below. Please note thequeries should be regarding general organizational matters. The selection of the questions willbe at the sole discretion of the Chief Editor.

Address :Editor, News Bulletin, Kalvit Bhavan, S3, IInd Floor

Capital Heights, Opp. RSP OfficePlamoodu, Pattom, Trivandrum - 4

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