CHAPTER - I

INTRODUCTION

It is an established fact that, 'Personnel

Administration' is one of the component parts of the whole

administrative system of a country. The operation of the

personnel administration, therefore, is influenced by

variety of social, economic as well as political forces. It

is no denying the fact that, administration is a dynamic

and continuous process which takes the shape according to

the demand of time. As a part of general administration,

personnel administration also cannot be viewed without

considering the changing situation of the human society. As

a matter of fact, personnel administration of a country is

one of the most crucial and complex problems of the whole

administrative process. It is such an area where the

frontier of private or business administration and what is

properly known as the public administration. Both are the

integral part of the society and must reflect its

compulsions and aspirations. In other words, personnel

administration is the keystone of the public

administration, chiefly concerned with managing and

 2

developing resources. It is not an isolate system. It is

intimately connected with the political culture and

constitutional system. With this basic assumption, an

endeavour has been made in this chapter to provide a brief

note on the theoretical approach to the personnel

administration and the historical background of Oil India

Limited (OIL).

Significance of Personnel Administration :

As already mentioned personnel administration is

the keystone of any administrative organization, be it

public or private. It is the keystone in the sense that the

administration is done by the personnel. Ruthnaswamy says -

"However necessary and useful organization and machinery

may be in administration, the importance of the manning of

the administration is greater, for it is the men that work

the machine. From the top of the bottom, from the centre to

the circumference and in between, it is men that make the

machinery of administration work".'*" It constitutes one of

the most important elements of 'good administration'.

Walter R.Sharp observes - "good administration is a

composite of effective organization, adequate material

2
facilities and qualified personnel". The effective and

1. Ruthnaswamy M., Principles and Practice of Public Admini­

stration, Central Book Depot Allahabad, Fifth Revised
Edition, 1974, p.136.
2. Sharp, Walter R, Field Administration in the United
Nations System, London, 1961, p.19.
 3

efficient functioning of any administrative organization

depends upon the quality of personnel carrying on its

administration. The policies and programmes of the

organization are formulated and implemented by them. The

success and the failure of an organization, therefore, rest

on the personnel it employed. So, it has been aptly

remarked that the personnel are the ultimate source of

administrative efficiency. Of course, it has to be also

remembered that, "a theoretically perfect administrative

structure and sound methods of work may be devised, but

they will be of little or no avail if those who man the

administration are unequalto their work".34 Considering

this aspect, Walter R. Sharp says - "even poorly devised

machinery may be made to work if it is manned with well -

trained, intelligent, imaginative and devoted staff. On

the other hand, the best planned organization may produce

unsatisfactory results if it is operated by mediocre or

, 4
disgruntled people". Inspite of this fact, it must be

conceded that the well-organized personnel system is the

only instrument through which an administrative

organization can accomplish the defined and desired goal.

3. Naidu, S.P., Apparao, T. , Mallikarjunayya, Elements of

Modern Public Administration, S.Chand & Company (Pvt.)
Ltd., 1986, P.141.

4. Sharp, Walter R., Field Administration in the United

Nations System, London, 1961, P.19.
 4

According to H. Finer "personnel is the sovereign fnet or in

public administration". In a sense, the importance of

personnel in administration cannot be questioned ; because,

it constitutes the 'nervous system' of an organization.^

Personnel constitute an important part of the

organizations. With the requisite skills, apptitude,

integrity and organizing capacity the personnel can build

the image of their organizations as effective institutions

in the nation building process. In other words, human

beings are a resource to an organization. Like any other

material on economic resources they represent an investment

whose development and utilization require managing (i.e.,

planning, organization, leadership and evaluation). There

is a fundamental truth in the cliche that people are an

organization's most important asset. In every organization,

human resources are a pivotal variable without which the

inanimate assets are worthless. Therefore, human resources

need to be understood in their proper perspective and

utilized effectively to achieve the goals of an

organization. This requires that human resources must be

administered and administration implies that work should be

effectively completed with and through other people. The

5. Brech, E.F.L. (ed.), The Principles and Practice of

Management, second Edition, Longman Group Limited,
London, 1970, P.489.
 5

process of administration is made up of four steps

embracing the personnel dimension - getting them, preparing

them, activating them and keeping them. So, today personnel

administration is becoming a very complicated and

challenging task for those who are entrusted with the

successful running of an organization.

Truely speaking, personnel administration

tremendously helps in the nations building process.

Perhaps, considering this aspect of the personnel

administration, Dr.Rajendra Prasad said at the concluding

session of the Constituent Assembly :

"Whatever the constitution may or may not

provide, the welfare of the country will depend upon the

way in which the country is administered. That will depend

upon the men who administer it ------ . It requires men of

strong character, men of vision, men who will not,

sacrifice the interests of the country at large, for the

sake of smaller groups, and areas and who rise above the

prejudices which are born of these differences" .(>

6. Quoted in H.R.Khanna : Making of India's Constitution,

Lucknow, Eastern Book Company, 1981, P.VI.
 6

Inspite of all this fact, it is observed today

that there is a general tendency in the organization to lay

emphasis on material and financial management to the utter

neglect of personnel. The consequences of this is that the

process of development takes longer, sometimes even fails.

The main reason for this is that the organizations

concerned are not so much attentive to the personnel who

are the real agents of development and ultimately the

beneficiaries of the process of development. Personnel,

properly selected and given the job of their choice,

produces excellent results otherwise they are a liability

on the organization.

Definition of Personnel Administration :

Now a question arises - what is 'Personnel

Administration' ? Before going to answer this pertinent

question, one must first have the clear-cut understanding

of, the .term 'personnel'. The Oxford Advanced Learner's

Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of

'personnel' as "staff ; persons employed in any work,

especially public undertakings and the armed forces".^ It

is defined as "the body of persons employed - both managers

7. Hornby, A.S., Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of

Current English, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
Twelfth Impression, 1988, P.624.
 7

O
as well as who are managed". In a sense, the term personnel

means all the members working in an organisation.

The concept of Personnel Administration,

therefore, means the administration of human resources of an

organization. It relates to the administration of persons

employed in an organization. It is that branch of public

administration which can help an organization in the

management of personnel resources with the use of well -

thought out principles, practices and rationalised technique

in selecting, retaining, developing personnel for the

fulfilment of organizational objectives systematically and

scientifically. It is both the art and science of planning,

organizing, implementing and evaluating the personnel

resources in any organization to ensure their best use for

the achievement of the objectives, goals and targets of an

organization. To be more clear, let us quote some

definitions of authentic writers in this field :

According to 0. Glenn Stahl, personnel

administration is the totality of concern with the human

resources of organization. It is one of the organizations

8. Latham, Fred W. and Sanders, Geogre S., Urwick, Orr on

Management, Heinmann, London, 1980, P.208.
 8

major linkages with its environment. It applies in microsm

the values, the ethics, the philosophy of that environment,

and it in turn influences the environment. To whatever

extent it is true in the publ ic service - simply because of

. 9
its size and its relationship to the whole people.

F. A. Nigro defines personnel administration as

"the art of selecting new employees and making use of old

ones in such manner that the maximum quality and quantity of

output and service are obtained from the working force"

According to Ordway Tead, "Personnel

Administration is the utilisation of its best scionfific

knowledge of all kinds to the end that an organization as a

whole and the corporate purpose and the individual purposes

are being reconciled to the fullest possible extent, while

the working together of these purposes realises also a

genuine social benefit".^

Andrew F. Sikula defines "Personnel Administration

9. Stahl, O. Glenn, Public Personnel Administration, Sixth

Edition, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co.Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi,
P.16.

10. Quoted in S.P.Naidu and others, Elements of Modern

Public Administration, First Edition)), 1986, S.Chand &
Company (Pvt.) Ltd., New Delhi.

11. Tead, Ordway, The Art of Administration, New York,

Mcgraw Hill, 1951, P.145.
 9

is concerned basically with manpower on 'people',

12
organizational resource of output".

Defining Personnel Administration, Jucious says

that it is "That field of management which has to do with

planning, organising, directing and controlling the

functions of procuring, developing, maintaining and

utilising a labour force such that :

(I) The objectives for which the Company is

established are attained economically and

effectively ;

(II) The objectives of all levels of personnel are

/ served to the highest possible degree ;

/

(III) The objectives of the Community are duly

13
considered and served". According to this definition

administration is concerned with the managerial (planning,

organising, directing and controlling) and operative

(procurement, development, maintenance and utilisations)

functions, with a view to attaining the organization goals

economically and effectively and meeting the individual and

social goals.

12. Sikula, Andrew F., Personnel Administration and Human

Resource Management, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New
York, 1976, P.5.

13. Jucious, M.J. Personnel Management, Homewood, Illinois,

1973, P.25.
 10

Prof. Thomas G. Spates offers the following

definition : "personnel administration is a code of the way

of organising and treating individuals at work so that they

will each get the greatest possible realisation of their

intrinsic abilities, thus attaining maximum efficiency for

themselves and theirgroup, and thereby giving to the

enterprise of which they are a part of its optimum

14
results". In this definition, personnel administration has

been regarded as a codewhich deals with the ways of

organising the human resources in such a way that their

potentialities are best utilized bringing them satisfaction

and efficiency in their work and helping the organization in

attaining its objectives, with minimum of cost, in a

competitive market.

"It is that branch of management", says Scott and

others, "which is responsible, on a staff for concentrating

on those aspects of operations which are primarily concerned

with the relationship of management to employees and

employees to employees andwith the development of the

individual and group. The objectives to attain maximum

individual development, desirable working relationship

14. Spate, Thomas, G. An Objective Scrutinity of

Personnel Administration, American Management
Association, New York, Personnel Series No.75,1944,P .9.
 11

between employers and employees and employees and

employees, and effective moulding of human resources as

15 ...
contrasted with physical resources". This definition puts

emphasis on the staff group personnel activities and on

assisting the operational personnel in performing the

personnel duties i.e., maintenance of personal records;

selection, transfer and promotion of employees ; and the

responsibility of seeing that the company's

policies relating to personnel practices and procedures are

carried out. r

Pigors and Myers define personnel administration

thus : "It is a method of developing potentialities of

employees so that they get maximum satisfaction out of

their work and give their best efforts to the

organization".16 •

From the above definitions, it is clear that

personnel administration is the art and science of policy­

making, planning, decision-making, organizing, directing,

15. Scott Wilter Dill., Clothier, Robert C., and Spriegel,

William R., Personnel Management : Principles,Practices
and Point of View Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company
Ltd. New Delhi Sixth Edition, 1977, P.ll.

16. Pigors, Paul and Myre's Charles A., Personnel Adminis­

tration : A Point of View and Method, McGraw-Hill Book
Co. Kagakusha Ltd., Tokyo, 1961, Second Edition, P.ll.
 12

controlling and motivating human resources for securing,

maintaining, developing integrating, involving,compensating

as well as enriching human environment for the blooming of

human skills and capacities in an organization, to secure

organization and social objectives as well as employees

satisfaction.

Scope The scope of personnel administration is very

wide. It is becoming diversified as the number of personnel

is increasing in magnitude and complexity. It may be

classified as under -

(a) Personnel Functions Personnel

administration has to deal with various aspects like

recruitment, training, promotion, conditions of service,

employees welfare and employees-employer relations. Today,

more and more interest has been laid on the processes of

morale and motivation to enhance the efficiency of

personnel.

(b) Environmental Linkage Personnel Adminis­

tration has to develop links with immediate, intermediate

and external environment to make itself effective and

efficient. Particularly it has to develop link with the

political elite without whose direction, the personnel

administration cannot function.

 13

(^Constitutional Provisions and Executive Orders:

Personnel administration has to function according to the

constitutional provisions and executive orders. So, there

is the need to understand the provisions of the

constitution for the understanding of the scope and

liquidation of authorities to deal with the personnel

issues and problems. Since there is an independent

judiciary to deal with various personnel issues, there is

also a need to understand the role of judiciary in this

context.

(d) Personnel Associations or Unions : The

employees unite in the form of associations or unions to

get their genuine grievances redressed. Many of these

associations or unions are legally recognised. So, there is

a need to understand their role in personnel

administration.

(e) Responsibility to Legislature Through the

Executive For the clear understanding of the scope of

personnel administration, one has to understand the role of

parliamentary institutions like Ombudsman, Parliamentary

Commissioners, Lok Pal, Lok Ayukt etc., because, these are

public beneficiaries at large. In addition to, it is our

duty to study the responsibilities of personnel

 14

administration to the legislature through the ministers

or the legislative committees.

To sum up, personnel administration covers

proper planning for work, selection, placement, and

training of employees so selected, distribution and

assignment of work among them. It includes supervision,

conduct and discipline, motivation, communication and

welfare grievance settlement terms of employment etc. It

also deals with all other auxiliary functions starting

from recruitment and ending with retirement. Personnel

administration functions are comprehensive and cover the

entire work career of the employment vis-a-vis the

organization. This function is universal and is useful

for all organizations whether government, industry,

hospital or universities.

Changing Scope of Personnel Administration

The scope of personnel administration has

changed somewhat over the last few decades. But this

change has been relatively slow in comparison to the

changes in other areas of business, management and

administration. Sikula rightly observes - "Changes

definitely are taking place in personnel administration.

Some personnel sub - functions seems to be breaking away

 15

from personnel, others seem to be new sub-area while

still others seem to be changing only in terms of their

relative emphasis and degree of importance".^7 Many of

these changes depend on size of an organization in which

the personnel function occurs, the managerial personnel

philosophies, the growing importance of the functions,

the changing managerial demands, employee needs and

societal concerns. Managerial and organizational planning

are incoming areas, i.e., they are now going to receive

substantially more attention ; they did not have any

prominence in the past. Training and managerial

development and personnel research have become

increasingly important today ; while importance of

personnel appraisal, wage and salary administration, has

somewhat declined in terms of relative emphasis. Employee

benefits and services, and worker's health and safety

have always been important personnel concerns. Labour

relations, public relations and plant security are "Out­

going” personnel sub-areas which have been taken aways

from the personnel department because of their increased

organizational importance.

17 Sikula, Andrew F., Personnel Administration and Human

Resources Management, John Wiley & Sons, New York,
1977, P.55.
 16

Personnel Administration - An Art or a Science ?

Personnel Administration has been recognised as

a science as well as an art. A science is "an exact and

systematic classification of knowledge" of some subject.

In view of this definition, personnel administration may

definitely be regarded as a science, for its principles,

concepts, laws, rules and procedures, methods and

techniques have been presented in a systematic way. They

are not static and rigid, but flexible and adaptive ;

they can meet the changing circumstance of an

organization.

On the other hand, "an art is an application of

skill or knowledge in a unique and creative manner". To

identify personnel administration as a career implies

that artistic qualities are associated with personnel

practices, which are recognised as a result of unique

creative administrative styles rather than as a result of

set of personnel rules and procedures.

Personnel Administration as a Discipline :-

Personnel administration has now been

recognised as a well-established academic discipline.

Most of the Universities in India are today engaged in

the teaching and research of personnel administration.

Many University have instituted courses leading to a

 17

diploma or degree in personnel management. Moreover, it is

being taught as one of the compulsory papers to the students

of post-graduate classes in the field of public

administration and business management. During the last

three decades, a large number of literature has been

produced by teachers, executives and research students based

on empirical studies and experience. It is suggested that

active collaboration need to be developed between the

practising personnel managers and the teachers of personnel

administration to develop applied research to provide

solution to the existing and emerging personnel issues.

Personnel Administration as a Profession :

Personnel administration has developed today, into

a profession in the context of the industrial and commercial

enterprises. It has to be noted that personnel

administration has not developed as a profession within the

machinery of government as we still believe that any

executive in the administration hirarchy can manage this

function. Generally, a profession has some attributes. These

are - a corpus of knowledge, social responsibility,prolonged

training and education before practice, code of conduct and

the development of professional bodies. But according to

some writers personnel administration is not a profession

for the following reasons -

 18

(a) lack of special training to personnel officers,

(b) lack of personnel system and personnel policy

resulting confusion to personnel offers,

(c) low position of personnel officers in the

organization,

(d) a poor self - image of personnel officers.

In spite of all these facts the feeling is gaining

ground in the government that there should be human

resources experts well-versed in the diverse aspects of

personnel administration. It is being realised that such

personnel specialists can contribute meaningfully to their

organizations and administer personnel departments

effectively.But the achievement in this regard so far has been

limited. This can be achieved only with the help of the

universities and the training institutions.'

Oil India Limited(OIL) - its formation and histori

-cal background : Oil India Limited (OIL) is one of the

largest public enterprises of India having a number of

instalations in different parts of Assam and in some other

parts of India. It became a Public Sector Company on 14th

October, 1981. Initially, this public sector industry began

its career as a private sector organization during the

 19

British Colonial regime in India. In fact, the history of

OIL is associated with the history of the discovery of Oil

in India.

Historical evidence shows that the first well in

India was drilled in upper Assam just 7 years after the

first well in the world was drilled in Pensylvania in the

U.S.A. by Colonel Drake in 1859. thus, OIL has inherited the

experience and expertise of over a century of Oil

exploration. With this brief introduction let us penetrate

into the history of OIL.

The earliest references to Oil in India are found

in the memoirs and despatches of British Army Officers on

survey expenditions at the head of the Brahmaputra Valley.

Even as their compatriots were busy in singing the Treaty of

Yandabo in 1826 whereby Assam passed from Burmese rule to

that of the East India Company, these warriors were

reporting 'petroleum exuding from river banks .... bubling

gas .... and thin seams of coal covered by grass. This

shows that the principal names associated with these

discoveries are Lt.R.Wilcox of the 46th Regiment, Native

Infantry, Major A.White and Capt.P .S .Hannay, Commandant of

the 40th Native Infantry. But untill 1860, no commercial

discovery of Oil or coal was made.

 20

It was in 1865, H.B.Medlicott of the Geological

survey of India while visiting the coal areas of Assam

recommended experimental drilling in the Makum-Namdang area.

This recommendation was followed by Mr.Goodenough of

Mckillop Stewart Co., Calcutta in 1867, and thus Asia's

first mechanically drilled- well was completed near

Margherita at a depth of 118 ft., which gave slightly over a

tonne of Oil. Of course, in 1866, the Company drilled

India's first hand-dug well to a depth of 102 ft. at

Naharpung. After that, about 8 shallow wells followed

between 1868-1869. Encouraging signs of Oil were obtained

but the absence of transport facilities discouraged further

attempts at drilling. So Mr.Goodenough failed to establish

good enough production.

In 1881, the Assam Railways & Trading Company

(A.R.& T.Co.) was incorporated to manage a railway

construction plan which "will not be unassociated with the

coal, timber and petroleum industries". By 1882 this Company

acquired rights for exploration over about 30 square miles

in the same area. It struck Oil in 1889 at Digboi marking

the beginning Oil production in India. Of course, in so far

as petroleum was concerned it was a brief flirtation but it

led to the drilling of some geologically significant wells

at Makum and more importantly to the discovery of the Digboi

Field in 1890.
 21

In 1893 rights were granted to ’the Assam Oil

Syndicate which erected small refinary at Margherita to

refine the Oil produced at Digboi. In 1899, after drilling

about a dozen wells, the A.R.& T.Co. promoted a new Company,

the Assam Oil Company (AOC), with headquarters at Digboi to

take over the petroleum interests, including Makum and

Digboi concessions and the rights from Oil Syndicate. With

the completion of the railway line to Margherita in 1888 and

commencement of the Assam Bengal Railway in 1891 and with

steadily improving road and river transport, several British

firms and agencies were thus actively developing the natural

resources of Assam at the end of the century.

In 1911, the U.K. based the Burmah Oil Co. Ltd.

(BOC) arrived on the scene fresh from their Oil-winning

victories in Burma. In the Surama Valley, the company

acquired the rights over the Badarpur structure and

developed a small but shortlived Oil field there (1915 -

1933). In 1921, the BOC took over the mangement of the

Digboi field from the ailing Assam Oil Company. Systematic

exploration of Digboi field led to sizeable extensions of

the proved area, and Oil production rose from 20,000 tonnes

per year to 250,000 tonnes per year by 1934.

Simultaneously with the development of the Digboi

 22

Field, the BOC carried out exploratory drilling between 1922

and 1932 in ten structures but without success. However,

geophysical surveys were initiated in the alluvial plains

east of Digboi as far as back 1937, gravity and seismic

surveys were undertaken jointly with British Petroleum and

Shell, but reconnaissance has barely been completed when a

moratorium imposed during the War made it necessary to

suspend work.

In the Post - war period, several exposed

structures were drilled without success but at Digboi the

productive area was extended eastward by new discoveries. On

the alluvial plains, a well drilled in 1952 at Naharkatia

was completed the following year as on Oil producer at a

total depth of 3571 metres. This was the discovery well of

the present-day famous Naharkatia Oil Field, 1956 another

Oil field was discovered at Moran. With these discoveries

geophysical surveys were continued by contract arrangement

with Seismograph Services Limited (SSL).

It is important to note that in the fifties, the

industrial philosophy of independent India had assumed a

coherent form. One of its expressions was the Industrial

Policy Resolution of 1956 which envisaged state control of

 23

the commending heights of economy and which, of course,

included Oil. In concidence with the spirit of this

resolution, "Oil India Private Limited" was incorporated on

the 18th February, 1959, as Oil India Limited, a partnership

venture between the Government of India, which held

one-third of the shares and the Burmah Oil Company Limited

(BOC), U.K., to manage the Assam Oil. Field at Naharkafia,

discovered in 1953, and Moran discovered in 1956. On July,

1961 Oil India Limited emerged as a joint venture with the

Government and BOC holding equal shares. On October 14,

1981, the company became a wholly-owned Public Sector

enterprise with the Government taking over B OC's 50 percent

equity. On the same date, the management of Digboi Field

passed from the erstwhile Assam Oil Company to OIL". The

following is the Financial formation of Oil India Limited :

1. Financial (Figs.in Is/Crores)

Authorised Capital as on 31.3.87 50.00

Paid-up Capital as on 31.3.87 28.00

Net Worth as on 31.3.87 403.90

Fixed investment (Gross Block)as on 31.3.87 541.33

Turnover (sales) 1986-87 445.24

Profit Before Tax 1986-87 83.13

Profit after tax 1986-87 50.60

Internal Resource Generation 1986-87 198.92
Dividend Percentage 1986-87 15%
Dividend Amount 1986-87 4.20
 24

2. Physical :

Crude Oil Production (1986-87) 2.621 million tonnes

Natural Gas Production (1986-87) 1631 million cubic mts.

L.P.G. Production (1986-87) 42955 tonnes

3. Concession Areas

MINING LEASE AREAS :

Assam : Naharkatia 1.424 S q . K m .

NHK Extension 165.759 Sq . Kin .

Hugri jan 725.197 Sq . Kin .

Moran 429.42U Sq.Km.

Dum Duma 668.218 S q . Km.

Digboi 51.820 S q . K m .

Arunachal Pradesh : Ningru 551.668 S q . K m .

Total : 2593.506 S q . K m .

4. PEL Areas

Assam :

(a) Moran Extension 560 Sq .Km.applied for Con­

version in to M L .
(b) Dum Duma 395 Sq.Km.

(c) Murkongselek 1307 Sq.Km.

(d) Dum Duma Extension

(Forest Land) 38 Sq.Km.

(e) Murkongselek (Forest Land) 191 Sq.Km.

 25

(f) Dibrugarh 1230 S q .K m .

(g) Tinsukia 1665 Sq.Km.

(h) Margherita 750 S q .K m .

(i) Borhat 222 Sq.Km.

Arunachal Pradesh :

(i) Ningru Extension 75 S q .K m .

(ii) Pasighat 925 S q .Km .

(iii) Jairampur 170 Sq.Km.

(iv) Namchik 260 S q .K m .

(v) Jairampur Extension 185 Sq.Km.

Mahanadi Basin :

Offshore NE Coast 16200 Sq.Km.

Andaman - Offshore 10900 Sq.Km.

Rajasthan - Onshore 10000 S q .K m .

(Jaisalmer,Bikaner,Jodhpur
and Sriganganagar districts)

51031.50Sq.Km.

Source OIL INDIA LIMITED, A Statistical Accounting.

Presently, OIL's operations are spread over the

states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar

Islands, Rajasthan, Offshore Bay of Bengal and Orissa

Onshore. Production of crude Oil and gas is now confined to

Assam and Arunachal Pradesh only. The Oil is transported by

 26

OIL'S pipeline to four public sector refineries at Barauni

in Bihar, Bongaigaon, Noonmati and Digboi in Assam. OIL's

Pipeline operates from Duliajan in Assam to Barauni in

Bihar, a distance of over 1100 K m s . The associated natural

gas is sold to consumers and used internally by OIL.OIL also

produces L.P.G. at Duliajan.

Initially, starting with a nucleus of experienced

personnel drawn from the Assam Oil Company, Oil India

formally set up its own organization on January 1, 1962 and

took over all aspects of operations shifted its headquarters

from Digboi to Duliajan, then known as Zaloni in the

Naharkatia area. From 1959 to 1962, an Officer, designated

as Manager Oil Matters (M.O.M.), was operating from Digboi.

At that time, M.O.M. was assisted by technical and

administrative staff. But after formal establishment of the

organization at Duliajan, the administrative system of Oil

also took a definite shape. In those days, the departments

of OIL were respectively, organised as 1. Administration,

2. Labour Welfare, 3. Public Relations, 4. Land,5.Production

6. Transport, 7. General Engineering, 8. Mechanical

Engineering, 9. Accounts, 10. Geological, 11. Drilling,

12. Electrical, 13. Civil Engineering, 14. Chemical

Engineering, 15. Security, 16. Stores (Medical).

 27

Formerly, the department of Administration was

established along with the Labour Welfare Department and

Public Relations Department. The Administration Department

was to look after recruitment, career progression, training,

placement and superannuation etc. of the executive level.

The same activities of the workman (Mazdoor) level were

doane by the Industrial Relations (Labour Welfare

Department) Department including the casual staff engaged

temporarily depending on requirement. In other words, the

two departments had to look after all the matters relating

to recruitment, transfer, career progression, training,

placement, superannuation etc. As far as Moran Field was

concerned, the Administration and the Labour Relations were

looked after by one Administrative Officer with some

clerical help. The technical and other support services were

also positioned according to the requirement. In 1964, the

Purchase Office in Calcutta was established to purchase

indigenous and process procurement of foreign materials and

imported items. This office was headed by a branch Manager

with some clerical help. At the same time the Delhi Office

of the Company was also established with a view to look

after the lessor functions with the Department concerned of

the Central Government. At that time, the Corporate Office

consisted of a Chairman (part-time), a Managing Director

with some advisers (full-time). One Administrative Officer

 28

was also there with some senior officials to carry out the

lessor work with different ministries and Central Government

offices. However, with the reorganization of the existing

departments, in 1977, the Personnel Department came into

being which has been looking after the personnel matters

sharing with the Training and Development Department.

At present, OIL has its own administrative

structure for successful implementation of its policies and

programmes. A number of skilled and unskilled labourers have

been working there under the leadership of a brilliant,

well-trained and knowledgable administrators and technocrats

who hail from different parts of the country as a result of

which Oil India Limited transforms into a mini-India.

Now OIL has forty five departments which are

respectively, 1. Accounts, 2. Administration, 3. BEP (Bay

Exploration Project), 4 Bombay, 5. Branch Office Calcutta,

6. CMD's Office, 7. Chemical, 8. Contract & Development, 9.

Civil Engineering, 10. Delhi Office, 11. Digboi Fields,

12.Director (PERS)'s Office, 13. Director (OPS)'s Office,

14. Drilling, 15. Electrical, 16. Ganga Valley Project,

17. General Engineering, 18. Geological, 19. GDAP(Geological

Data Acquisition & Processing), 20. GM (Operations)'s

Office, 21. Group General Manager's Office, 22. GM

 29

(Production)'s Office, 23. GM (TS)'s Office, 24.

Instrumentation, 25. LPG, 26. Materials, 27. Mechanical

Engineering, 28. Medical, 29. Moran, 30. Ningru, 31. OGPL

(Oil & Gas Pipeline), 32. Personnel, 33. Pipeline, 34.

Production (Oil), 35. Production (Gas), 36. Project

Development, 37. Planning, 38. R & D, 39. Rajasthan Project,

40. Safety & Environment, 41. Saurashtra Project, 42.

Systems Audit, 43. Transport, 44. Training & Development,

45. Well Logging. The Organisation Chart of the top

administrative structure has been added at the end of this

Chapter.

It is no denying the fact that, since the

establishment of the organisation, OIL has been making a

restless endeavour to explore the 'liquid gold' from the

heart of the various Oil fields in the country. Being a

national property of free India, OIL has to play a definite

role on the socio-economic and administrative sphere of the

country. Of course, there is also another such parallel

organisation in the country which is popularly known as Oil

& Natural Gas Commission to explore Oil and gas. Yet, Oil

India Limited has a unique place in the history of oil and

gas exploration of India - if not the history of the

discovery of Oil in India.

 30

In the present work, an attempt has been made to

study the personnel administration of Oil India Limited. For

data collection the methods of questionnaire, and both

formal and informal interview methods are adopted. The facts

and figures collected from various primary and secondary

source materials have been analysed, evaluated and

interpreted with a view to assessing the personnel

administration of Oil India Limited. For our working

purpose, the work has been divided into twelve chapters. S'h^

chapters are as follows :

(i) Introduction

(ii) Classification

(iii) Recruitment

(iv) Promotion

(v) Salary and other Allowances

(vi) Training

(vii) Discipline

(viii) Rights of the Personnel

(ix) Welfare Measures

(x) Conditions of Service

(xi) Retirement

(X ii ) Conclusion
 ORGANISATION CHART

! CMD

T
l i r
[ D IR ( P E R S , | j D IR (F IN ) D IR (O P S ) DIR (E i, D)

.L. WO 9 b-

I i
~ b
E'ELHI ! CM ! CM PM PM
FC GU IO l GM fP^ GM (TS)
OFFICE ' (Ft A D) i(RP) (BEP) (SP)
________ J

ao no
3

DY. GM (DRILL DY. GM (W/L DY. GM DY. GM

>-■t

(f O d )
A GEO. SC.) & CHEM) (PRODN.) (AP)

PRODN. Prodn. NINGRU ELECTRICAL CIA |PCM IRN | AM roM

UXD DRILLING WELL­
(GAS) (OIL) PRODN. MECHANICAL
SAFEtT i ENY. GEOLOGICAL LOGGING
PIPELINE OGPL (PROJ.) TRANSPORT
UEWCAL GDAP CHEMICAL
LPG CIVIL
Tf CM. AUDIT
MORAN C i D CkptL
09V. FIELD Material*
Calcutta Oflice
Gen. EnflC-
lnstrur»**nlaHon
 31

InApreparation of this thesis, materials are taken

from three sources -

(i) Primary

(ii) Secondary and

(iii) Tertiary

In other words, the sources are -

(a) Field Work

(b) Perusal of published materials, both books as

well as research articles.

(c) Studies of reports of the various commissions

and inquiry committees, and

(d) Interview with some knowledgable persons.

Sources for historical Background of OIL :

1. The Freedom Forty - The Saga of Oil, The Growth of

Indians Petroleum Industry, 1947-1987 (Brochure).

2. OIL News, Vol.21, February, 1984 (House Journal).

3. Operation OIL (Brochure)

4. OIL News Vol.26, September - October, 1989.

5. A Statistical Accounting, Oil India Limited.

6. Freedom Forty - Story of OIL - An overview.

(Brochure).

7. BATORI, (House Journal IOC, Assam Division,Diyboi)

Vol.XXXVI, July-Sept. 1989.