Of late Shri G.N. Sridharan is very much in the news. 'LIC pensioners Calicut' has published a lot of controversial materials depicting Shri Sridharan in poor light. In an earlier Post, Shri Prakasarao has described him as the General Secretary of "an organisation". He did not want to say that Shri Sridharan was the undisputed leader of Class I Officers in India. I have interviewed leaders of LIC employees unions like Shri N.M. Sundaram, Shri Govindarajan and Shri A.V. Nachane and also many others in LIC in connection with a project I had undertaken in the early Nineties with the blessings of LIC's top management. The project was to convene a meeting at Calicut of all trade unions in LIC. It was my idea to conduct this meeting under the auspices of Calicut Insurance Institute and Insurance Institute of India on the subject "Need for change in LIC".
I was to approach Shri Sridharan also for an interview. I had interviewed Shri N.M. Sundaram on three occasions for this purpose. Shri Nachane also helped me a lot by allowing an interview in Mumbai.
But I didn't approach Shri Sridharan because even before I could do so, a local 'actuary' SDM had sabotaged the move to conduct the all India conference at Calicut.
Shri Sridharan has worked for a short duration of 3 years at Calicut. I also worked under him just for a couple of months.
What rents the air these days is the accusation that he has played into the hands of LIC etc. There are many such accusations which I have published. In legal matters we beg to differ. It happens here also. Some of us who are very anxious to win the case are losing temper. How the pensioners petition should be successfully fought out is the crux of the matter.
But I remember, Shri Sridharan was a straight forward and honest gentleman. He has only suffered like many other union leaders in LIC and retired to my knowledge as an unconfirmed SDM. It is not a crime to have a different view in legal matters. He speaks out because he has the courage of his conviction to do so.When I am just closing these lines, I hasten to add, and thankfully so, that he had given a pen as a gift to all of us in the Legal Department at Calicut as a parting gift. Normally parting bosses did otherwise.
He is a man with a difference.
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* On the 'transfer issue',of course, we should have more arguments!
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