Central Trade Unions oppose move to imposing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) on public sector general insurance companies

Tribune News Service

Ravi S Singh

New Delhi, October 7

As many as 10 Central Trade Unions (CTUs) on Friday declared opposition to the Union government’s alleged moves to weaken and damage the Public Sector Units (PSUs) with an aim to privatise them before 2024.

The new flash point for the Unions’ ire against the government is its imposition of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) on Public Sector General Insurance Companies (PSGICS).

“It has been effected in an unilateral, unconstitutional and illegal way, severely affecting the health of the industry, the employees, agents, surveyors and the valuable customers, citizens as hundreds of offices are proposed to be closed / merged in the name of KPI / Restructuring,” the unions said in a joint statement in regards to these PSGICS.

These unions are INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC.

They have also written a protest letter to Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on imposing KPI on the PSGICS, asking her to put it on hold till views of all stakeholders in the matter are ascertained.

The unions’ pique is not far to seek. “After the Air India, Pawan Hans, LIC IPO and bank mergers, it is the turn of electricity sector and public sector general insurance companies,” they said.

In a critique  of the government’s reported move regarding PSGICS, they said the Bell curve based performance appraisal suggested for performance analysis of employees, has already been understood as a failure and discarded by major organizations globally, including many big multinational companies.

They further said that this is being done on the suggestions of external consultants who barely understand the intricacies involved and problems that may arise if such a system is implemented without detailed understanding of the planning and a road map.

These external consultants appear to have been particularly tasked for defined anti-PSU purposes, they added.

The Unions are miffed that the process to implement KPI has been rolled out in the companies without prior to adoption of the report by their Board of Companies, which, they said, is illegal and unconstitutional.