19 Monday Mar 2012
Posted in General
A wonderful statement has been issued by the Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee that there will be no price increase due to the increase in the Customs and Service Tax etc. From the past experience and also theoretically, common people have understood how this will affect the price rise. Now the Government is trying to sell its anti-people policies by fraud also. Wonderful!
19 Monday Mar 2012
Posted in History
Today is the 14th death anniversary of the great Communist ideologue, statesman, politician, writer and twice Chief Minister of Kerala, Com. EMS Namboodiripad. While as Chief Minister of Kerala he refused to implement the Essential Service Maintenance Act against the Central Government Employees in the 1968 strike despite threat of dismissal of the state government by the Central Government, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was the General Secretary of the CPI(M) for a long period. His writings have been published in 100 big volumes by the CPI(M) Kerala State Committee. Due to his extra-ordinary memory and thorough knowledge in almost all sectors of knowledge, he is also secretly called as the ‘Human Computer’. He donated all his wealth and earnings/royalties from his books to the party and spent a frugal life with the allowance given to him by the party. He had close connection with the BSNLEU and inaugurated its All India Conference at Thiruvananthapuram in 1994.
I pay my revolutionary homage to this great Communist!
18 Sunday Mar 2012
Posted in BSNLEU, Uncategorized
Once again I got the chance to visit Coimbatore, the busy growing city of the south. Local people say Kovai for the town. It is a growing industrial city with a lot of educational and technical institutions. Being almost on the border with Kerala, there are a lot of Keralites here. Most of the people knows Malayalam.
I started from Calicut by the Fast Passenger train at 0810 and reached Kovai at about 1315 hours. Com. Ambujakshan and his team were waiting at the Railway station. After lunch, we went to the AIBDPA circle Executive Committee meeting being held in a nearby auditorium. Com. Mohan Doss, Circle President was presiding. Com. C.K.Narasimhan Circle Secretary presented his report. Many comrades participated in the discussion.
In my address to the CEC, I briefed the house about the issues of the Pensioners, the historic settlement of the Pension revision and the fight for settlement of pension issues. The formation and growth of AIBDPA was reported.
Out of 26 SSAs, except in 5 SSAs, AIBDPA has been formed in all other SSAs. The units are on the growth pact. Tomorrow, there is the District Conference of Coimbatore.
Com. Vamanan, SSA Secretary and his team made all arrangements for the successful conduct of the CEC. My Congratulations!
18 Sunday Mar 2012
Posted in TU News - International, Uncategorized
Protesters chanted and cheered as they marched down Wall Street on Saturday to mark six months since the birth of the Occupy movement. Some of the protesters applauded the Goldman Sachs employee who days ago gave the firm a public drubbing, echoing the movement’s indictment of a financial system demonstrators say is fuelled by reckless greed. “I kind of like to think that the Occupy movement helped him to say, ‘Yeah, I really can’t do this anymore,’” retired librarian Connie Bartusis said of the op-ed piece by former Goldman Sachs manager Greg Smith, who claimed the company regularly foisted failing products on clients as it sought to make more money. Carrying a sign with the words “Regulate Regulate Regulate,” Bartusis said the loss of governmental checks on the financial system helped create the climate of unfettered self-interest described by Mr. Smith in his piece, although Goldman’s leadership suggested he had not portrayed the bank’s culture accurately. “Greed is a very powerful force,” Bartusis said. “That’s what got us in trouble.” On Saturday, six months after the protesters first took over Zuccotti Park near the city’s financial district, protesters gathered there again, drawing slogans in chalk on the pavement and waving flags as they marched through lower Manhattan. With the city’s attention focused on the huge St. Patrick’s Day parade many blocks uptown, the Occupy rally at Zuccotti drew a couple of hundred people a smaller crowd than the demonstrations seen in the city when the movement was at its peak. Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore made an appearance at the park, milling around with protesters. With the barricades that once blocked them from Wall Street now removed, the protesters streamed down the sidewalk and covered the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial. There, steps from the New York Stock Exchange and standing at the feet of a statue of George Washington, they danced and chanted, “We are unstoppable.” Police say arrests had been made, but they don’t have a full count yet. As always, the protesters focused on a variety of concerns, but for Tom Hagan, his sights were on the giants of finance. “Wall Street did some terrible things, especially Goldman Sachs, but all of them. Everyone from the banks to the rating agencies, they all knew they were doing wrong. … But they did it anyway. Because the money was too big,” he said. Dressed in an outfit that might have been more appropriate for the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the 61-year-old salesman wore a green shamrock cap and carried a sign asking for saintly intervention- “St. Patrick- Drive the snakes out of Wall Street.” He, too, praised Mr. Smith’s editorial and said it came just as the Occupy movement is again gaining ground. It was a sentiment echoed by others. Stacy Hessler held up a cardboard sign that read, “Spring is coming,” a reference, she said, both to the Arab Spring and to the warm weather that is returning to New York City. She said she believes the nicer weather will bring the crowds back to Occupy protests, where numbers have dwindled in recent months since the group’s encampment was ousted from Zuccotti Park by authorities in November. But now, “more and more people are coming out,” said the 39-year-old, who left her home in Florida in October to join the Manhattan protesters and stayed through much of the winter. “The next couple of months, things are going to start to grow, like the flowers.” Some have questioned whether the group can regain its momentum. This month, the finance accounting group in New York City reported that just about $119,000 remained in Occupy’s bank account the equivalent of about two weeks’ worth of expenses. But Ms. Hessler said the group has remained strong, and she pronounced herself satisfied with what the Occupy protesters have accomplished over the last half year. “It’s changed the language,” she said. “It’s brought out a lot of issues that people are talking about. … And that’s the start of change.”
17 Saturday Mar 2012
Posted in BSNLEU
There is good news for the senior officials whose demand to grant them stepping up of pay to that of their juniors in the junior scale, due to point to point fixation in the pay revision, was rejected by the management.
This was agreed to at the time of the pay revision itself. A committee consisting the staff side and official side recommended stepping up of pay. This was approved by the Management Committee and BSNL Board, but was rejected by the DOT, since they have to pay pension on that.
Some officials in Kerala has gone to the CAT and a judgement was got to step up pay. BSNL went on appeal to High Court which was rejected. The CHQ BSNLEU put a strong demand to implement the court judgement, but instead management went on SLP to Supreme Court. Now the Supreme Court has dismissed the SLPin case Nos. SLP NO. CC 4124 of 2012 CC 4142 of 2012 CC 4173 of 2012. After many years, the management has lost its case. It has now to implement the agreement it made with the union earlier of stepping up of the pay of the senior to the junior in the junior scale who got more than the senior in the wage revision.
The BSNL management should immediately implement the court judgement without any delay. The seniors will get justice now.
17 Saturday Mar 2012
Posted in General
With out any iota of doubt, it can be seen that the budget is a corporate-oriented budget. It is against the common people. One need not go anywhere to find this simple truth; Only see which are the items going to be costly as per the new budget presented by Pranab Mukherjee Finance Minister ably guided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission, Ahluwalia.
For the following the cost/price will increase:
Petroleum Products, Cement, bicycle, Hotel food, Gold Jewellery, Gold coins, Platinum, Diamonds, Computers, Two-wheelers, Branded dresses, refrigerator, A/C, Washing machine, Soap,tobacco products like cigarette and Beedi etc. These are all mainly used by the common people including the middle class.
Not even a single demand raised by the 11 central trade unions in the successful 28th February Strike has been accepted by the Government and did not reflect in the budget proposals.
There is no other way but to continue the struggle against the anti-pepole proposals in the budget.
17 Saturday Mar 2012
Posted in History
19th March 2012, is the 14th death anniversary of Com. E.M.S.Namboodiripad, the Communist ideologue of international fame and the leader who was at the helm of Communist leadership for about six decades, in the most difficult times. He was the first Chief Minister of Kerala and had been the Chief Minister for three different terms.
Born on 14th March 1909 in a big orthodox feudal land-lord family of Elamkulam ( in the present Malappuram District), EMS in his student days and later fought against the old and dilapidated systems of the Brahmin Community along with a team of progressive youngsters which could bring in many reforms especially for the girls and women in the community. A monthly called ‘Unni Namboothiri’ was regularly published focusing on the need to reform the community. Later most of these young social reformers joined the Communist Party.
Com.EMS jumped in to the freedom movement in his early days and participated in the independent struggle. Later he joined the Congress- Socialist party and later the Communist Party of India. He was one of the first comrades who formed the Communist Party in Kerala. Com.P.Krishna Pillai, EMS and AK Gopalan were three leaders who gave a sound basis for the party in Kerala. He was a voracious reader and his analysis of the day-to-day developments and explaining the same in simple terms to the people was a continued affair till his death. It can be stated that since the age of 20 till his death he continued to write and speak on the various socio- economic and on almost all matters, especially politics. His writings have been published after his death by the CPI(M) in 100 big volumes.
In the first election after the formation of Kerala state in 1957, Communist Party won and the first Communist Ministry was formed with Com. EMS as the Chief Minister. The land-mark land reforms and the progressive Education Bill became role model for other states, but the land-lord feudal dominated Congress could not tolerate the people-friendly decisions. EMS government was dismissed in 1959, barely after two years it was elected, without any justification.
When the Communist Party was split due to the pro-government and reformist stand of the then leadership, Com. EMS along with Comrades P.Sundarayya, AKG, Jyoti Basu, BTR, Ramamurthi and others walked out from the Central Committee and formed the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The Congress government with the full support of the CPI unleashed terror and put most of the leaders of the CPI(M) in jails. After Com.P.Sundarayya, the first General Secretary, Comrade EMS was elected as General Secretary and continued till he, on his own, relinquished the post due to old age. But he continued in the PB and Central Committee till his death.
I had the fortune to meet him several times and interact. Many times when he used to come to Calicut, I met him at the Railway station and sometimes arranged his food also, which was to be prepared strictly according to the diet recommended by his doctor. He inaugurated the All India Conference of AITEU Class III in Thiruvananthapuram in 1994, where I was elected as its General Secretary. During the period I was Circle Secretary of the union and at Thiruvananthapuram, at least once in a month I used to go to his residence and meet the family.
On the fateful day of 19th March 1998, I was getting down at the Railway Station at Agartala to attend a Conference, when Com. Swapan Chakraborty, Circle Secretary, informed me that Com. E.M.S. has passed away a few hours back. Since I was in the train, I had not heard the sad news. I wanted to go to Thiruvananthapuram to attend his last journey, but there was no immediate conveyance to reach there. I paid my homage there in Agartala itself.
On his 14th death anniversary, I pay my respected homage to the great communist leader. Red Salute to Com. EMS!
17 Saturday Mar 2012
Posted in General
The Budget 2012-13 is a serious attack on the common people and the working class. The Left and other opposition parties have been demanding for a more poor-oriented budget so that the common people will get some relief from the high-rocketting prices of vegetables and other essential commodities. But the Government is having other priorities. They want the ordinary persons to be taxed more and the corporates less on the US model. Corporates are be given subsidies and subsidies for the common people are reduced. A look in to the following proposals clearly reveals the agenda of the UPA government.
‘Outlining its intention of cutting down the ballooning subsidy bill and bringing it under 2 per cent of GDP in 2012-13, the Government pegged the subsidy for food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies for 2012-13 at over Rs 1.79 lakh crore, nearly 14 per cent lower than the revised estimates for the current fiscal.
According to the Budget proposals, the government’s subsidy bill on food, petroleum and fertilisers is estimated at Rs 1,79,554 crore for the 2012-13 fiscal as against Rs. 2,08,503 crore in the revised estimates for this fiscal. Of this, Rs. 75,000 crore has been provided for food, Rs. 61,000 crore for fertilizer and around Rs. 40,000 crore for petroleum subsidy.
Interestingly, the revised estimate for this fiscal is higher by 55 per cent compared to the budget estimate of nearly Rs. 1,34,211 crore. The oil subsidy, which is given to state-run oil marketing firms, such as Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL and HPCL, for selling diesel, domestic LPG to households and kerosene through the PDS system, below cost, is estimated lower at Rs. 43,580 crore in 2012-13, compared to Rs. 68,481 crore in this fiscal.
The government’s food subsidy, given towards running the public distribution system is estimated to marginally rise to Rs. 75,000 crore the next fiscal from Rs. 72,823 crore in 2011-12. The fertiliser subsidy is also pegged lower at Rs. 60,974 crore, as against Rs 67,199 crore in the current fiscal. Under the fertiliser subsidy, the government would provide Rs. 13,398 crore for imported urea, Rs. 19,000 crore for indigenous (urea) fertilisers, and Rs. 28,576 crore for the sale of decontrolled fertilisers (DAP, MOP and complexes) at a subsidised rate to farmers.
The Finance Minister said he would endeavour to restrict the expenditure on Central subsidies to under two per cent of the GDP in 2012-13 and subsequently, further down to 1.75 per cent of the GDP.’
It is clear that the concern of the UPA II government is for the corporates and big business and not the common people who brought it in to power. The Congress has seen the wrath of the people in the last assembly elections, where congress leaders lost even in the hereditary constituencies of its top most leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. But it has not learnt any lessons from this defeat.
Oppose and defeat the anti-people measures.
17 Saturday Mar 2012
Posted in BSNLEU
CHQ BSNLEU is making all preparations for the inauguration of the CHQ building ‘K.G.Bose Bhawan’ at New Delhi on 22nd March 2012, the 11th Foundation Anniversary of BSNLEU. Invitation cards have been sent to senior leaders, leaders of sister unions etc. and we hope that most of them will attend. The function will be at the building place itself. Com. A.K.Padmanabhan, President, CITU will inaugurate the building.
The Central Executive Committee will be held on 22nd and 23rd March at Delhi itself.
It is a joy for each and every BSNLEU worker that they have been able to have an own building with contribution from the workers themselves.
16 Friday Mar 2012
Posted in PSU
Beware. The government is on a head-hunt of the Public Sector. The budget has proposed for PSU disinvestment to collect Rs. 70,000 crore in this financial year. The budget did not increase the corporate tax but want money to be collected by selling the property of
The Finance Minister plans to generate Rs. 30,000 crore from stake sales in PSUs, despite the fact that the targets set for 2011-12 were missed. “In 2011-12, as against a target of Rs. 40,000 crore, the government will raise about Rs. 14,000 crore from disinvestment. For 2012-13, I propose to raise Rs. 30,000 crore through disinvestment,” he said, and asserted that the government would maintain at least 51 per cent ownership and management control in the PSUs.
It means that in many PSUs, the government is proposing to disinvest up to 49%. This will be for the present. Next time it will cross the 51%,which will virtually mean that it will become a private company as it happened in the case of Maruti Udyog Limited and other PSUs.
A strong protest movement to save the property of the people being gifted to the MNCs and corporates should start immediately.
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