02 Friday Mar 2012
Posted in General
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance examining the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill has suggested to raise the income tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh and also hiking deduction on savings to Rs 2.5 lakh.
It is reported that the committee will submit the report within a week.This may be included in the Budget also to be presented in the session of the Parliament starting on 12th March.
02 Friday Mar 2012
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the manufacturing company of Defence Aircrafts is going to be disinvested. HAL is a fully owned government company and it was expected that this strategic PSU will not be disinvested. No, the Government is on a mad run for privatisation and it is also going to be disinvested. I hope that there will be resistance from the unions in HAL.
Union Minister of State for Defence, Mr M M Pallam Raju, has stated that HAL will be disinvested shortly. It is stated that the Book Running Lead Managers and the Legal Advisors have been selected for the divestment process. The exact timing of the IPO would be decided by the Ministry of Defence/ Department of Disinvestment as per the report.
02 Friday Mar 2012
Posted in TU News - India
The 28th February Strike is having its impact on the Government. The Prime Minister who advised his government to file appeal against the decision of the Karnataka High Court which ordered that the state minimum wage should be paid to the NREGA workers in Karnataka, has been now compelled to change his views as can be seen from the following report. In this connection, I am reproducing a report in the press:
“The Union Government is expected to announce a policy decision soon on the vexed issue of employment of contract labour.
Mr G. Sanjeeva Reddy, the President of INTUC, told Business Line here on Friday that the Government might declare norms for ensuring equality in terms of payment to contract workers in the Budget announcement. He said currently the Cabinet Secretariat is looking into it.
“The Government has in principle accepted that when a contract labour does the same job as a permanent worker does in an establishment, the former cannot be discriminated against in terms of financial compensation,” Mr Reddy, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, said.
The apex court also expressed a similar view, he pointed out.
The Government has already prepared a study on contract labour – engaged both in private and public sector organisations.
“The Government is figuring out the cost to the economy if such pay parity is introduced across the country. I have reasons to believe that certain positive steps towards the contract labour issue are in the offing,” he affirmed.
The labour unions continue to view the system of contract labour as exploitative.
“We want a gradual abolition of this system. As a first step we want parity on financial compensation. We also feel the need for a joint negotiating forum of the employers and the workers. The Government also should fix ceiling in percentage terms of employment of contract labour in an organisation,” Mr Reddy said.
For providing legislative protection to this category of workers, whose conditions were found to be abysmal, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act was enacted in 1970.
Consequently, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules, 1971 came into force.
However, the constitutional validity of the Act and the rules were challenged before the Supreme Court in the Gammon India Ltd. Vs. Union of India case. But the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Act and the Rules in 1974.”
02 Friday Mar 2012
Posted in PSU
I have pointed out earlier the proposal of the government to disinvest further shares of ONGC, either direct or through buy-back route. Yesterday the bids for ONGC shares was done and it is reported that 42.77 crores shares were sold getting about Rs.12,000 crore.
Interestingly. it was also reported that the ONGC top management was completely kept out of the bid processing with neither the Chairman nor the Company Secretary present in the decision-making meeting. Were they omitted, since there were some objections from them? We will know in the coming days about what happened behind the curtains.
01 Thursday Mar 2012
Posted in 2G Scam Corruption
The Central Government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court on the verdict in the allotment of 2G Spectrum case which had put the the PMO in a bad situation on the delay in granting permission to charge sheet a public servant. Government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking review of 2G spectrum scam verdict, which held that sanction for prosecution of public servants can be sought even prior to filing of complaints. It contended that “the question of sanction gets attracted only at the stage of cognizance after filing of complaint.” The Centre sought review of the Supreme Court’s January 31 verdict which blamed the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) for sitting on the plea to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for granting sanction to prosecute former telecom minister A Raja in the 2G scam.
It is also reported that certain private companies are also filing petition against the order. The Supreme Court order has shocked the government and private players. Gradually they are trying to change the decision by appeal of various kinds to whitewash their misdeeds.
01 Thursday Mar 2012
Posted in AIBDPA - BSNL DOT Pensioners
The continued efforts of the BSNLEU and AIBDPA is having some results. In the National Council and Standing Commitee meetings, we have been continuously raising the delay in settlement of pension cases after retirement. Though there is clear orders to settle all the retirement claims on the last working day itself, in many places the cases are sorted out after two-to-three months and some time more. This is causing much heart-burning and difficulty for the pensioners who have been serving for 30-40 years for the government and the people.
Now the BSNL Corporate office has issued an order today, 1st March 2012, asking the CGMs/Field officers to prepare everything ready before the retirement so that the claims could be settled without any delay.
However, issuing orders is not sufficient. Our comrades at field level should ensure that these instructions are implemented so that the officials retiring will be getting benefits/claims without delay
01 Thursday Mar 2012
Posted in PSU
CITU in a press statement has lambasted the Central govt. on its policy of disinvestment:
“On the very day of unprecedented strike on 28th February all over the country by all Central Trade Unions on ten point Charter of demands which included immediate stoppage of disinvestment of profit making PSUs, the government responded by declaring 5% disinvestment of ONGC, the Maharatna PSU having an annual profit of Rs. 18 thousand crore as well as reserve and surplus of more Rs 1 lakh crore. CITU condemns the hypocritic stand of the government which only couple of days back appealed to Central Trade Unions through Labour Minister to desist from going on strike as the “issues raised by the Central Trade Unions have already been addressed to a substantial extent.” CITU reminds the government that even during pre-budget discussion, Central Trade Unions had asked the government to take concrete steps of recover at least part of Rs. 3 lakh crore tax arrears of individuals / corporates, to make up the revenue deficit instead of selling public assets through disinvestment. Even 5% recovery of the tax arrears will exceed the amount proposed to be gained through disinvestment of ONGC.
CITU also deplores government’s plan to increase petrol, diesel and LPG price after assembly elections in five states which is bound to fuel further price-rise and inflation, a burning issue highlighted by the all India strike. CITU strongly asserts that if the government can afford to arrest the price-rise of petroleum products for electoral purpose during election times there is no reason why the same cannot be done during non-election
CITU calls upon the working class to mobilize and vociferously protest against governments’ hypocritic stand to ignore the demands of the working class to stop inflation and disinvestment”
01 Thursday Mar 2012
Posted in Telecom
Reports have been published in the news media that the MTNL may cease its CDMA operations since there is not sufficient growth. At present it has 1,50,000 CDMA customers. The management is reported to have stated that since there is no growth in the segment, no fresh investment can be made in this sector. What will happen to the existing subscribers?
It is also reported that one more VRS will be implemented by MTNL. With 3 VRSs ( or 2) already imposed, the staff strength has been reduced drastically and there are only about 50,000 employees. If the present proposal for VRS of 15,000 to 20,000 is implemented, there will be acute shortage of staff and the services will suffer seriously. The stand of the unions are yet to be known on this fresh VRS proposal. I feel that they should oppose it and defeat the same as was done by the BSNL unions earlier and also fighting against it at present.
01 Thursday Mar 2012
Posted in PSU
The government is always on the look out for getting funds out of PSUs, in addition trying the PSUs to become loss making. Air India is one special example for the above. BSNL, which had more than Rs. 35,000 crore cash balance has been made a loss making company within 5 to 6 years. This policy is being implemented in other PSUs also.
There are more than two dozen companies which together have a cash surplus of more than Rs. 1,80,000 crore like ONGC, HPCL, BPCL, CIL etc. In addition to disinvestment, the government is trying to get the cash surplus to be reduced and get it for the government. One proposal is to direct the PSUs to buy back the shares. The government is trying other strategies also.
Government is seriously considering all options. The trade unions should be alert and vigilant to foil such anti-PSU plans.
01 Thursday Mar 2012
Posted in Telecom
The Telecom Sector has been the biggest contributor to the government’s revenue for the last two years, with the huge amount received through the auction for 3G, BWA spectrum etc. If the auction is conducted for the 2G Spectrum being released by the private telecom companies whose licences have been cancelled by the Supreme Court recently, then Telecom will be first in revenue earning for this year also.
DOT wants to save the private telecom companies by introducing f tax reliefs, abolishment of service tax on internet, broadband services etc. Tax exemptions are also suggested by the DOT for the telecom manufacturing units. We are not against these, but when we demanded these concessions for the incumbent operators, BSNL and MTNL, the DOT was silent. But when the private companies have demanded, the DOT is proposing the same. My suggestion is that in addition to these reliefs, BSNL and MTNL should be given special status and additional tax reliefs as the incumbent operators, who are providing services in the most interior areas of the country as part of implementing the government’s commitment for universal service, despite heavy loss.
DOT has also recommended Infrastructure status for telecom, which will benefit the sector in many ways. The government which is in a quandary due to the corruption cases and many observations and judgment of the Supreme Court , will have to tread carefully. But again, I want to assert that the government should always remember the pioneer work done by the DOT/BSNL/MTNL in universalizing the service and bringing it to all corners of the country during the last six decades, when there was no private company.
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