‘Truncated’ Wage Deal an ‘Unprecedented’ Move in History of NABARD, say Employees' Association

New Delhi: Aggrieved over a “truncated” deal that was imposed “almost unilaterally,” the All India NABARD Employees’ Association (AINBEA) has decided to carry forward their struggle, NewsClick was informed on Friday, even as a bi-partite settlement on wage revision, pending since 2017, has been reached between the former and the management.

Earlier last week, the eight bi-partite settlement on wages and other service conditions in respect of Group B and C employees of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was signed in a meeting held on September 21 in Mumbai.

The association representing the NABARD employees, however, has flayed the management for introducing cuts in benefits, including grade allowance, in a move that goes against what was earlier mutually agreed between both the parties.

“We were flummoxed to find that the Management of NABARD, reportedly at the instance of DFS (Department of Financial Services), Govt. of India, has offered us a truncated settlement, significantly curtailing some of the benefits like Grade Allowance as agreed, signed mutually between us on February 18, 2022,” the AINBEA has said in a letter addressed to the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) Mumbai on Tuesday.

DFS, under the Union Ministry of Finance, oversees the functioning of banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, and the national pension system in the country. As a requirement within these industries, bi-partite settlements, after being agreed between the management and the employees’ associations, are sent to the DFS for final clearance.

Acting as an apex regulatory body for the overall regulation of regional rural banks, NABARD has been active in developing and implementing financial inclusion within agriculture and other economic activities in rural areas of the country.

The AINBEA has alleged that in an “unprecedented” move this time, a “unilateral change” in the draft bi-partite agreement was introduced, which has also disturbed the well-settled principle of “Equal Pay for Equal Work” established in the NABARD for years.

On Friday, Rana Mitra, general secretary, AINBEA, told NewsClick that the association unanimously decided to sign the bi-partite settlement on wages while lodging a “strong protest” to the NABARD’s management.

“Since the whole outcome was also imposed on us almost unilaterally, breaking well-settled principles of law, we have also decided to carry forward the struggle by all available democratic means,” Mitra said, adding that the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) Mumbai has agreed to convene a meeting between the management and the association to discuss the matter on October 3.

In the Group C cadre, for the senior and special categories, the grade allowance has remained the same for the former and got reduced by Rs 350 for the latter.

“This means that possibly it is for the first time after a wage settlement, a category of employees will get less pay against a particular item in revised pay than what is available earlier,” Mitra explained.

Asked about what then prompted the association to agree to sign the settlement, Mitra pointed out that the tenure of the current settlement period, which was to be operationalised from November 2017 to October this year, was already nearing an end. “Hence, the settlement had to be signed,” he said.

Last month, to register their protest against the “inordinate delay” in signing the wage settlement, employees’ and officers’ associations of NABARD also decided to stage a one-day nationwide strike, which, however, was deferred after the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) Mumbai intervened into the matter.

On Friday, Mitra said that the association, in the October 3 meeting, will be demanding the management amend the “unilateral change.”

“Further decision on how the struggle will be continued depends on the outcome of the meeting,” he said.