Rajinder kumar Pawa

Drama Action Inspirational

4.8  

Rajinder kumar Pawa

Drama Action Inspirational

Administrative Norm Bypassed

Administrative Norm Bypassed

7 mins
445


As told in my previous stories, after having passed my B.Tech.(Hons) in mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay in early nineteen sixties, I was selected as an Executive Officer in N.E.I Ltd.at Jaipur. It was one of the most reputed factories of B.M.Birla Group of Industries in India at that time manufacturing Ball Bearings.


In those years, India was getting industrialized. There was a dearth of engineers to manage the new Industrial Units being set up in the Public and Private sector. The old Units were being managed mostly by people who had come up from the ranks. There was no proper know-how available to run the factories qualitatively and efficiently.

As our country was being industrialized, I had chosen Manufacturing as my main profession. As most of the Industry was being run by professionals who had risen from the ranks, I wanted to improve the manufacturing processes by imparting technical knowledge to the existing processes of manufacturing. With this in mind I opted to join Machine Shop.

Soon after joining I had to face lot of difficulties to establish myself amidst the skilled workers who would not respect you and consider a new engineer as nonentity. However teaching them new techniques with the help of their strong practical skills, I could win over their confidence and respect in a very short time. I was able to establish the desired discipline in a rowdy environment.


As I said earlier india was on the road to industrialization soon after independence. Along with this as usually happens, a mushroom of Labour Unions were springing up in the whole country. These were getting very strong and arrogant. Indian labour had been oppressed for a long time and wages were low. Perhaps it was their turn to react with a vengeance. N E I Ltd in Jaipur was no exception. It had a very strong Labour Union. Labour Department of the factory always collaborated with the Labour Union to have a smooth functioning of the factory.

The Labour Union had its representatives spread over in all the departments of the factory. And these representatives pampered as they were by the Labour Department, used to take undue advantage of their position.


One such worker S(name with-held),a representative of the Labour Union, was an operator on one of the machines in Machine Shop.

Labour Department, in collusion with the Labour Union had sanctioned a special monthly allowance for him which was being added to his monthly wages every month.

But this special monthly allowance had to be approved by the Head of Machine Shop every month.

The practice continued even after my joining as Head of the Machine Shop. Operator S was performing his duties efficiently and diligently and there was no complaint against him. His special allowance was being approved by me every month.

After a few months I found a change in Mr S’s behavior. He was no longer serious about his work and was often missing from his work station for long hours and was found loitering in the factory from one department to another. A backlog of work was accumulating at his station, which was hindering the flow of production.

I called him in my office. I counseled him about his unsavory conduct of missing from the department. His output was suffering and it was affecting the work flow resulting in a big loss to the factory. I advised him to concentrate on his duty. If he had any problem, he was free to discuss with me and seek my help.

But there was no change in his behavior in the coming days. Being a member of the Labour Union he was pampered by the Labour Department. But his behavior was vitiating the discipline of Machine Shop. Other workers were curiously watching my response to his unruly behavior.

I approached the Plant Manager(PM) for the redressal of the problem.


PM was an old guard and was associated with the factory since it’s inception. Though not a qualified engineer, he was well versed in engineering skills. He had risen from the ranks and was held in high esteem by the management and his colleagues.He advised me not to take any disciplinary action against Mr S as he was associated with the Labour Union and any action against him was likely to rebound and might constraint the relations between the Labour Union and Management.

I told him that Mr S’s behavior was affecting the discipline of the department. Some kind of action against him was definitely called for. After pondering over the alternatives I suggested that as a punishment his monthly special allowance be kept on hold till he improves. The PM immediately nodded his approval.

It was almost month end. As usual Mr S came to me with the draft to get my approval for his next month’s special allowance. I explained to him my inability to sign it unless he behaves and starts doing his job diligently. He was speechless and left in a hurry. My refusal had a telling effect on the other workers in the department.

Next day Mr S came to my office in the afternoon. With a cunning smile on his face, he placed the paper of his special allowance in front of me and asked me to see if it had been approved? I could see PM’s approval signature on the paper.

The PM had approved the allowance without taking me into confidence.

I was shocked. However I kept my cool and remained calm and composed. Mr S went on to show the approved signature to all the workers in the Machine Shop.


The PM had bypassed me. He had undermined my authority vis- a vis my staff and workers and had caused me to lose control over them. The discipline of the department was bound to suffer.

I pondered over the whole issue with a cool mind. I decided not to confront the PM on the issue.He was bound to express some kind of excuse and the matter would fizzle out. Instead I decided to inform the Works Manager(WM) about the whole episode.


Mr D(name with-held),the WM was a highly qualified Mechanical engineer from BHU. He was founder member of the organization. He was a very strict but polite administrator. The year before he had lauded my efforts to reorganize the Lay-Out of the Machine Shop in a record time without any loss of production.

I wrote a letter addressed to the PM, detailing about the whole episode, starting with Mr S’s rowdy behavior, his not responding to my counseling.


Further my taking the PM into confidence about with-holding his allowance and then his signing the document of Mr S’s special allowance bypassing me and without my knowledge. Also mentioning about Mr S showing that document to all workers, undermining my prestige in the department.

I posted a cc of the letter to the WM.

I sealed both the letters and kept them in the offices of the PM and WM late in the evening.


Next day the PM called me to his office.He was furious and took me to the WM’s office.I narrated the whole story to WM. After listening to the whole episode he turned to PM. He gave him a long lecture on Administration. By such acts of bypassing, he reminded him that he was undermining my authority. How could he expect me to control and maintain discipline in the department. His action reflected lack of respect and courtesy towards me, he told him.

Such acts also cause employee performance and that of the department to suffer. The end result is that one has to deal with additional employees problems-the ones which need not be problems. The bypassed managers, he warned him, no longer remain effective leaders. He advised him to take his managers always into confidence over issues related to them.

Next day I found a visible change in Mr S’s attitude. He was on his work station throughout his duty hours and completed the job assigned to him. It had a deafening effect on other workers in the department. My authority seemed to have been restored.


The Management seemed to have sent a strong message to the Labour Union, to convey to its representatives to perform their duties diligently and maintain discipline in the departments. Obviously Mr S had been reprimanded by the Labour Union for his unworthy behavior.


Things started working smoothly once again in my Unit.Discipline was restored.Workers were very cooperative and were giving the desired productivity. There were no incidents of bypassing thereafter. The Management was very satisfied.

So much so, that after a couple of more years I was selected to be trained in the USA to help establish a new venture of Taper Roller Bearings in N E I Ltd in Jaipur.


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