Over one lakh LIC employees across the country may have some cause for cheer with the much-awaited wage revision expected to be finalised this week.

The Finance Ministry is understood to have given an in-principle nod for the proposal sent by the LIC Management and now decks are cleared for LIC Chairman M R Kumar to have a virtual conference on Monday afternoon (April 12) with union representatives for the customary “information sharing session” to complete the process after discussion, sources close to the development said.

It maybe recalled that the LIC management had last made a wage revision offer of 16 per cent. While making this offer, the management had also announced a 100 basis point cut in rate of interest on housing loans availed by various cadre of employees.

Up to 20% hike

Going by the whispers in the corridors of power, LIC employees may be in for a bonanza and even get 18.5-20 per cent jump (excluding superannuation) in the latest wage revision, which is getting firmed up in a year when the insurance behemoth is slated to hit the markets with the country’s largest-ever initial public offering (IPO).

The wage revision for LIC employees is due from August 1, 2017 and usually runs for five years.

This is the first time in LIC’s history that a wage revision has been delayed this long, rued a union leader, who did not want to be identified.

However, although strictly not comparable, it is widely expected that insurance employees this time too will get a much better deal than bank employees even after the latter’s wage revision in the 11th bipartite settlement for banking industry.

Without including superannuation, the bank employees got a 15 per cent increase in gross salary in the most recent bipartite settlement.

Another interesting aspect is that there is till now no concept of wage agreement between the LIC management and its employee unions. Even after the “information sharing” meeting, the management’s final proposal will be sent to the government and can be altered by the Finance Ministry (Department of Financial Services) at will before it’s notification. No such thing can happen in the bipartite wage settlement situation and not a single rupee can be removed without unions’ consent, sources said.

The Centre is eyeing IPO mop-up of at least ₹1 lakh crore from LIC and may divest up to 10 per cent stake in the insurance behemoth for this purpose.

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