Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Apr 18, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Apr 18, 2003 |
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Corporate
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Human Resources SAIL staff hope to get back fringe benefits Kohinoor Mandal
KOLKATA, April 17 HOPES of a profitable year have simultaneously generated a fair amount of expectation among the employees of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) for an early restoration of their fringe benefits, which have been suspended since 1999. However, the restoration may not come so soon. The employees may have to wait for another six to eight months, if not the whole of the current financial year to enjoy the benefits that have eluded them during the past four years. Industry sources said the expectation was born out of the fact that SAIL was riding on increased steel prices and improved techno-economic factors. The financial result of last quarter of 2002-03 has clearly established that SAIL is on the profit path. Sources in the steel major are, however, not optimistic about the restoration of benefits. They said they were not expecting any dramatic development. Instead, they felt the SAIL board and the Union Government might wait for six to nine months, see the performance of the company and then take a decision. In the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed between the public sector steel giant and the Steel Secretary, the SAIL Chairman, Mr V.S. Jain, gave the assurance that the company would register a net profit in 2003-04. Logically, only if this happened would the company take the initiative to restore the fringe benefits. This means that the move would not come before 2004-05. Since 1999, SAIL has withdrawn fringe benefits like leave encashment, leave travel concession (LTC) and liberalised leave travel concession (LLTC) to its 1.38 lakh employees. While one is entitled to LTC every two years for visiting home town, LLTC entitlement falls due every four years for visiting any place in the country. The SAIL employees are divided into two categories, namely, executive and non-executive. However, the benefits are the same for both categories and neither has enjoyed them since 1999.
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