Home minister P Chidambaram, who heads a newly-formed four-member group asked by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into wage demands of oil PSU executives, is likely to give its recommendations on in a month.
Chidambaram met petroleum secretary R S Pandey on Sunday morning to keep himself posted about the issues regarding the indefinite strike call given by oil PSU executives from January 7, sources said.
Despite the fact that the group, which also comprises petroleum minister Murli Deora, public enterprises minister Santosh Mohan Dev and minister of state for finance P K Bansal, has neither been notified as a group of ministers nor the terms of reference and timeframe set, Chidambaram was of the opinion that recommendations can be firmed up in a month.
Sources said Chidambaram told Pandey that the group may need three to four meetings to form its view and the first in the series has been scheduled for January 7 evening.
He has also agreed to meet the Oil Sectors Officers Association, a body of executives from 14 oil PSUs, which has given the indefinite strike call to protest a mere 17 per cent hike in wages, approved by the government.
A strike in the oil sector can cripple the already fragile economy as it can bring aviation to a standstill within minutes and disrupt auto and cooking fuel supplies if it lasts for two days.
Sources said Chidambaram has assured looking into their genuine demands but the strike call has to be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation chairman R S Sharma and IOC chairman Sarthak Behuria have supported the oil executives saying the wage hike approved by the government was minuscule and more needed to be done.
In his capacity as chairman of the standing conference of public enterprises, Behuria wrote to the secretary, department of public enterprises, saying that bureaucrats had reduced the wage hike approved by the Justice M J Rao Committee, placing executives at a 'disadvantageous position'.
The Cabinet in November approved lower hikes, suggested by a committee of secretaries, resulting in executives getting 'disappointed and greatly de-motivated'.
Sharma in a letter to Pandey suggested giving officers a separate risk pay, grading fitments benefits and higher house rent allowances and other perks.
"It's do or die this time," OSOA president Amit Kumar said, adding while the Government gave better salaries than what was suggested by the pay panel for its officers and bureaucrats, for PSUs the bureaucrats reduced the hikes proposed suo motu.
"This is despite the fact that the government is not supposed to give a single penny and the entire wage bill is footed by the PSU concerned," he said.
Behuria suggested paying a separate risk pay, a higher fitment benefit, more perks and allowances, superannuation benefits of 30 per cent of basic pay plus dearness allowance, company cars, empowering PSU boards to review limits for performance-related pay, and wage revision every five years.
The association wants 50 per cent dearness allowance merged with basic pay with effect from January 1, 2005, in line with the one approved for central government employees in January 2006.
