Monthly Archives: December 2012

VSNL Land valued at Rs. 6,156.58 crore

08 Saturday Dec 2012

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Milind Deora, Minister of State Communications has informed the Parliament in reply to a question that erstwhile VSNL has a surplus land of 740.63 acres which is valued at Rs. 6,156.58 crore at market rates.

This information about the surplus land was almost a secret till the 2G scam broke out. It was being used by the Tata Telecommunications along with the infrastructure of VSNL. VSNL was privatised years back, but the surplus land issue was under the carpet. It is good that the issue has been unearthed at least now.

BSNL – MTNL in loss – MoS Communications

06 Thursday Dec 2012

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Minister of State for Communications and IT, Milind Deora has stated in reply to a Parliament question that BSNL and MTNL have posted loss of Rs. 8,851 crore and Rs. 4,109 crore respectively for the year 2011-12 as a result of stiff competition in the mobile sector, high staff cost and spectrum charges.

How can the Minister say that it is because of the anti-PSU policy of the Government and Mismanagement that the PSUs have come in to loss? But BSNL-MTNL workers and many right thinking people clearly understand the real reasons.

Free Roaming from Next year?

06 Thursday Dec 2012

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It is reported that the DOT is proposing to introduce free roaming from the next year, preferably March itself. The telcos are very reluctant since it will adversely affect their revenues. The details of the proposals may be revealed shortly.

CG EMPLOYEES CALLS FOR STRIKE ON 12TH DEC 2012

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

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Lakhs of Central Government employees will go on one day  strike on 12th December 2012 demanding new Wage Revision w.e.f. 01-01-2011 and other major demands. The main demands are given in brief below:

  1. Revise wages of CG employees and GDS w.e.f. 01-01-2011.
  2. Merge DA with pay w.e.f. 01-01-2011
  3. Remove discrimination in Compassionate Ground Appointments
  4. Departmentalise Gramin Dak Sewaks ( ED employees) and grant all benefits of regular employees
  5. Revive functioning of JCM
  6. Fill up vacant posts and create new posts
  7. Stop downsizing, outsourcing, contractorisation, corporatisation and privatisation
  8. Stop price-rise; Strengthen PDS
  9. Introduce PLB in all departments and remove ceiling
  10. Revise OTA, Night Duty Allowance and uniform rates.
  11. Implement all arbitration awards
  12. Make the right to strike legal and fundamental right
  13. Grant five promotions to all employees
  14. Withdraw PFRDA bill and ensure statutory pension to all
  15. Vacate all victimisation

The central government employees unions including NFPE have already issued the notice. Serious propaganda has started and leaders are on tour all over India to make the strike a great success. More or less the demands are the demands of workers  in all sectors. The demands are fully justified. We fully support the demands and give solidarity to the struggle of the Central Govt. employees.

Homage to Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar!

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

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6th December  2012 is the 56 th death anniversary of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, one of the greatest social reformers India has ever seen. As a valiant fighter for the under-privileged and dalits, the architect of the Indian Constitution and law maker,Dr. Ambedkar was awarded the greatest civilian honour in the country, Bharat Ratna by the Goovernment of India.

On his  death anniversary, we pay respectful homage to Dr. Ambedkar!

Contract Labour Should Get Justice

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

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In a recent labour conference Mallikarjun Kharge, union Labour Minister said that “ the huge difference of wages between the regular workers and the contract workers lead to cause of unrest”. He stated that as per Contract labour Act and other notifications, the temporary workers should get wages and social security measures equal to the regular worker for the same kind of work performed. But these are mostly not implemented in the country.  In such a situation, the Minister stated, that the government is proposing to amend the Contract Labour Act to safeguard the interest of the workers.

It is also understood that in addition to the Contract Labour Act, the central government is also considering amendments to the Minimum Wages Act, Employees Provident Fund Act, Factories Act etc.  While the Labour Minister states that these are being considered for modification to ensure better wage and working conditions, the workers and their trade unions will have to be doubly and intensely watch each and every step of the government. The government is under heavy pressure from the MNCs and Indian big business to reform the labor laws so that they can maximise profits by paying the workers less.

The Labour Acts can be amended, but it should be for the benefit of the workers and not to the benefit of the employers by further exploiting the workers.

JOINT CONVENTION OF CPSTU AT CHENNAI – 15TH DEC.2012.

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

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A Joint National Convention of Central Public sector Trade Unions (CPSTU) will be held at Pitti Thiyagaraya Arangam (Hall), Chennai on 15th December 2012 at 10.00 AM . This is the first convention after the successful Bangalore convention and will deal with the challenges that the workers are facing in the neo-liberalisation and anti-worker policies of the government. The Convention will also discuss and prepare for the success of the 2 days National strike on 20-21 February 2013 called by the Central Trade Unions in the National Convention of Workers held at New Delhi on 4th September 2012 on the important and urgent demands of the workers.

As per the decisions of the National Convention, Joint Conventions were held during September, October and November. Satyagraha/Jail Bharo/ arrest programmes will be organised on 18th and 19th December. A massive Parliament March is being organised on 20th December which will be participated by thousands of workers, mainly from the nearby states.  The next two months will be fully utilised for propaganda and campaign for the 2 days strike.

The CPSTU Convention at Chennai will discuss all these issues and plan for implementing the decisions of the National Convention of Workers held on 4th September 2012.

Convention by Left Parties against FDI in Multi-Brand Retail

03 Monday Dec 2012

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New Delhi, Dec 3 In a veiled attack on Samajwadi Party, CPI(M) today said the vote on FDI in retail could be defeated if all parties which had pledged support to UPA vote against the government, which appears to have “arranged” votes through “wholesale trading”. Addressing the ‘Convention Against FDI in Multi-Brand Retail Trade’, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury launched an attack on Congress-led UPA saying the government was responsible for disruption in Parliament for five days by not accepting the demand for vote on FDI. “We had demanded a discussion entailing voting on FDI. For five days, the government did accept it. Government did not allow Parliament to function (by not allowing vote for five days) and it is responsible for this. “They accepted for a vote after five days. They needed five days for arranging votes. If parties like SP, TDP and JD(S), who were with us on streets to protest, also vote against FDI, the government will be defeated,” he said. Yechury said if SP or BSP, which are opposed to FDI, abstain or vote with government then it will win. Alleging that Congress knows how to “manage” votes citing JMM bribery case and cash for vote scam, he said, “The government is known for this. There is trading, may be wholesale trading. Congress has experience in this.” Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, JD-S leader H D Deve Gowda and Chandrababu Naidu of TDP had courted arrest along with Left leaders in protest against FDI in retail. Yechury said the government does not have majority in Rajya Sabha and it could lose the vote. He also took potshots at Trinamool Congress saying it is the party which brought no-confidence motion but later said they would not insist on voting on FDI at the all-party meeting. “Why do Trinamool do this? To help whom?” he asked. “The parties should honestly vote on this issue,” he said.

Rubbishing Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath’s assertion that the vote on FDI need to be won in only one House, Yechury said the Left parties won’t subscribe to it and added that it has to be won in both the Houses. On government’s plans to bring RBI amendments in FEMA to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, he said, “It should be voted separately. If the government is bringing it together, we will bring amendments later. “So, there will be more than one voting on the issue. We have time till next Budget session. We have to keep the momentum till then,” he said. Yechury also targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying, “He worships American capitalism as his local deity.” CPI National Secretary D Raja said the Left parties will oppose the “retrograde” steps adopted by the government. He wondered why the government is rigid on inviting FDI when a majority is against it.

Fight and Defeat FDI in Multi-Brand Retail

03 Monday Dec 2012

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The UPA-II government is hell-bent to impose Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The cabinet has already taken decision in the matter for allowing 51% FDI, despite widespread opposition from traders, opposition parties and even some of the allies in the UPA. The decision was taken by the government against the solemn assurance in the Parliament by the present President of India and  then Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, that the decision on FDI in retail would not be taken till there is a consensus.

The issue did not start now. In 2004, Hilary Clinton visited India and met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and pressurised for early decision on FDI in retail so that MNCs like Wall Mart can descend to India to maximise their profit. It is said that the Prime Minister suggested to Hilary Clinton to meet Budhdeb Bhattacharya, then Chief Minister of W.Bengal and persuade him to agree. The Left Parties  were then supporting the UPA-I Government and the latter cannot afford to agree without the consent of Left. Of course, Budhdeb did not agree. The Left Parties continued their opposition and the government could not bring FDI in retail.

Again in 2012 Hillary Clinton arrived in India and the main purpose was to ensure that the government clears FDI in detail. Within weeks, the Cabinet took the contentious decision. The first four days of the winter session of the Parliament was disrupted due to the adamant position of the government denying discussion.  At last it was compelled to announce that the matter can be discussed under Rule 184 with voting.

The discussion will take place on 4th and 5th of December 2012. Though the Congress as usual is stated to have managed a majority in the Lok Sabha somehow, as they have done earlier by corrupt means, it will be a problem for it in the Rajya Sabha where the opposition parties are in majority.  What will happen in the Lok Sabha is also to be seen due to the vacillating stand of parties like BSP and SP.

Government is propagating that FDI in multi-brand retail will bring huge foreign exchange, will reduce the prices and will benefit the farmers and agricultural producers. According to the government, it will generate much required employment also. Hence all parties should support this benign decision according to the government.

The why the Left and other opposition parties are opposing? The arguments of the government are against the well-known facts. Wall Mart, Carryfour and other such giant MNCs have entered many countries and what happened there  is for all to see. The Foreign Exchange brought by these MNCs has been taken back from those countries with big profit. The concerned countries did not benefit at all. The prices might have gone down initially but again it has gone up. Millions of retail traders had lost their jobs compared to the small number of people who got jobs in these malls or marts.  It is preciously what will happen in India also. About 4 crore retail shops are going to be adversely affected by the entry of these giant shops. The future of  4 crore families with about 15-20 crores of dependent people  are going to be doomed. Farmers will not get any benefit since the MNCs will decide the prices. The Wall Mart is not allowed to start shops in many of the states in USA, including New York by the people there, mainly because of all these disadvantages. The beneficiaries will only be the MNCs and the country of their base since the profits will be taken back. Wall Mart is facing charges of bribery for operations in Mexico, China and India.

The government will have to amend the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), since FDI in retail sector is completely banned by  FEMA. The amendments made by the Reserve Bank in this connection will have to be approved by the Parliament. This also will be a bottleneck for the government which require at least 30 days’ notice.

The Left  and other opposition parties are determined to defeat the move of the government. They have already started well-planned propaganda among the people. A well-attended meeting of the four Left Parties viz , CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward block was held at Constitution Club in Delhi today, 3rd December 2012, with participation of the retail traders’ organisations. Coms. Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury (CPIM), A.B.Burdhan, D.Raja (CPI), T.J.Chandra Chudan(RSP), Biswas (FB) and other leaders addressed the meeting. They declared that the fight will be taken up not only inside the Parliament but outside also. They stated that even if the government manages to approve the decision in the Parliament somehow, they will organise a strong protest movement and will not allow the Wall Marts to open shops in India.

Yes, there is no doubt that the entry of Wall Mart and other such MNCs are against the interest of the country and the people and have to be resisted with all our might. Let us all be part of this resistant movement.

 

Promotion to JTO

02 Sunday Dec 2012

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The promotion to Junior Telecom Officer posts from the lower cadres  is pending for many years due to some court cases. At present there are two main issues with regard to these promotions. One is the promotion of the already qualified officials through the examinations held in 2000. They will come to around 2000 and odd and are working as officiating JTO for the last 5-7 years. There were about 5000 similar officials who have qualified and except the present officials who are officiating, all have been promoted as JTOs and are now functioning in supernumerary posts consequent to court judgement. The other officiating JTOs could not be promoted due to the court judgement. They have to be either promoted by creating supernumerary posts as in the case of earlier promoted officials or their posts are to be upgraded and promoted. This is only justice to them.

The second category is the TTAs and Sr.TOAs who are eligible for the 35% quota and other cadres eligible for the 15% quota. Since there was no examination for the last 12 years, neither they could appear for the examination nor get promoted. In the present circumstances those who got recruited with high qualifications etc. have high expectations and want early promotions. As such the examinations should be conducted early and those passed should be promoted without any delay.

The fact is that there is acute shortage in the JTO cadre. If both the above ie., promoting the officiating JTOs either by creating supernumerary posts or upgrading their own posts, without disturbing the existing vacant posts and conducting the LICE at the earliest and promoting the passed officials  are done, it will give sufficient number of the JTOs which will help BSNL to give a boost to the development and expansion. The justified and long pending demands of the workers also will be met.  The BSNL management has to move fast in the matter and put an end to the dissatisfaction of the concerned workers.