After some time, today, 18th March 2014, I got an opportunity to be at P and T House, Thiruvananthapuram, the citadel of service trade unions in Kerala.
P and T House is the Union office of NFPTE/NFPE/BSNLEU for the last more than 50 years. It was inaugurated in 1961 after the formation of the Circle Co-Ordinating Committee of P and T Unions (NFPTE) to accommodate all the 9 unions of NFPTE in Kerala.At that time onwards it became a place where not only P and T Unions, but various unions/associations of Central / State government employees met and discussed various issues and prepared for struggles.
As the Circle Secretary of the All India Telecom Employees Union Class III, I stayed at Trivandrum and functioned from the P and T House for about 4 years. All the 9 NFPTE unions functioned from there.
After formation of BSNL and BSNLEU, the latter is also functioning from P and T house which continues till today.
The rented house was purchased by NFPTE and constructed a new building in the 1980s. In this connection it is to be noted that all the District (SSA) headquarters in Kerala have their own buildings to accommodate the NFPE / BSNL union offices.
It was a joy to meet many senior comrades there. It was indeed an inspiration to me at P and T House, cherishing the memories of sustained struggles and organising the Union.