• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Gaurav Raghuvanshi

Ahmedabad , March 24

EMPLOYEES striking work in order to haggle for better compensation is common. But a strike to stress the importance of the social character of an institution and the need to play angel to the rural poor?

The entire staff of Nabard went on a nation-wide strike demanding, among other things, that the development finance institution (DFI) status of the bank should not be diluted.

The two-day strike, called jointly by the Nabard Officers' Association and Nabard Employees' Association, the two unions representing officer and other staff cadres respectively, concluded on Thursday.

The five-point charter of the striking employees lists `Continuation of the DFI status' as the first demand.

The next two demands relate to restoration of the parity in compensation with the employees of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and payment of a `compensatory allowance'.

But "farmers' benefit" makes a re-appearance as the fourth demand and the employees have sought a continued flow of funds at concessional rates for the agriculture sector.

"We have reasons to believe that the Government is slowly diluting the DFI status of Nabard and making it just another commercial entity. That would destroy the very character of the institution," said Mr D.S. Bhatt, Nabard Officers' Association President for Gujarat.

"Also, the management has gone back on its written commitment to the employees that pay and allowance of Nabard would always stay on par with the RBI."

When contacted, the Nabard Chairperson, Ms Ranjana Kumar, said that Nabard continued to be a DFI and that there was no move to dilute that status. "Nabard is a DFI and if the unions have any fears regarding that, I can only say that it is an apprehension," she told Business Line.

On the pay and allowances issue, she refused to comment.

Mr Bhatt said that Nabard had started paying tax on its profits and funds from the RBI and the Government at concessional rates were slowly being squeezed out.

He also said that the pay parity with the RBI employees had been maintained ever since Nabard was formed.

But recent improvements in the compensation package for RBI employees have eluded their Nabard counterparts.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
ICICI business catalyst facility

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line