The Hindu Business Line : BHEL officers to boycott jubilee celebrations

Some 9,000 executives of public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd across its 14 units are boycotting the golden jubilee celebrations slated for August 29, according to their Bangalore unit.

They are protesting against what they call a `measly' four per cent performance-based incentive they got and are returning the amount that was electronically transferred to their banks by BHEL.

According to Mr S.R. Godbole, General Secretary of the BHEL Executives Association drawn from the local Electronics Division, BHEL has given all its 43,000 employees a flat annual plant performance payment of Rs 14,000 each, even though the executives are entitled to 22 per cent of the company's distributable profit amounting to an incentive of Rs 48,000 each.

BHEL is a Navaratna company with all its financial parameters doing well, yet its incentive is far lower than the NTPC and ONGC pay-outs of Rs 1-1.5 lakh to its officers; even mini-ratnas HAL and BEL have paid better, at Rs 70,000-80,000 each, he said.

Their other demand is for a memento similar to ONGC's golden jubilee incentives of Rs 50,000 and a 15-g gold medallion.

For fiscal 2005-06, the company posted net income of Rs 13,820 crore and net profit of Rs 1,679 crore.

According to Mr Godbole, executives are feeling the wide wage disparity with their counterparts in other companies and the private sector.

"Service conditions, pay and perks to executives are not proportional to the growth of the company.

Satisfaction level of employees is extremely low. Executive associations have reported the problems to the directors but to no avail," the officers said in a release.