Monthly Archives: June 2014

NATIONAL IDENTITY CARDS TO ALL CITIZENS – HOME MINISTER

18 Wednesday Jun 2014

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National Identity Cards will be issued to all citizens, according to Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh.It will be taken as a priority according to the HM. This will be in fulfilment of the National Population Register project.
The issue of national identity cards for citizens has been prioritised by the government which today asked officials to bring proposals in this regard for approval at the earliest. (Courtesy: ET)

National JCM demands Merger of DA with pay and Interim Relief

18 Wednesday Jun 2014

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The Secretary, Staff Side, National Council, JCM, Shri Shiv Gopal Mishra, has demanded the Government to merge the DA with pay and for interim relief to the Central government employees. The demand was made to the Cabinet Secretary, when the former met him on 13th June 2014.

The Cabinet Secretary assured Secretary, Staff Side that there is no proposal to increase the working days week, from 5 to 6 for the Central Secretariat Staff in New Delhi. There was some rumours on the subject earlier.

Communications Minister for Revival of BSNL, MTNL

18 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in BSNL - Better Service to the Nation, BSNL News

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Communications and IT Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad has stated that he would personally oversee the revival of BSNL and MTNL. He also stated: “I will undertake a provocative role in monitoring performance of these companies. I will have network operating system installed in my office which will monitor the performances of the towers in all the circles. The circles with low performances will be questioned.”

The statement of the Minister is much welcome. There has been no systematic check up for the improvement of the BSNL, MTNL services so far.

But this alone is not sufficient. There are many urgent actions to be taken on which the Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations has already given a memorandum to the Minister and sought for an appointment. The Minister has not found time to meet the Forum, although he was quick to meet the private companies to get their opinions. The Communications Minister should meet the representatives of the workers, who also have got very important suggestions for the revival of BSNL and MTNL and also for improvement of services to the people. Hope the Minister will act on his promise.

FICCI demands abolition of Wage Board Act for Newspaper employees.

18 Wednesday Jun 2014

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The attack on the workers are increasing both by the government and the employers. Even at the time of the UPA Government and especially after the NDA government has taken over, the MNCs and other employers are putting much pressure to ‘liberalise’ / ‘reform’ the labour laws meaning that the employers should be given right to violate the laws and go on ‘hire and fire’ system.

The latest in this series is the demand of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)to the government to abolish the Wage Board Act for news paper publishers. The reason is quite clear. During the last two/three decades, continuous struggles have been conducted by the newspaper employees to implement the Wage Board decisions, which the newspaper barons have been resisting. Now the latter and the FICCI feel that it is the correct time to get the Wage Board Act abolished.

Such a proposal is going to start serious agitation from the news paper employees and their organisations.

Govt. appoints Negotiator for Vodafone Tax Dispute

18 Wednesday Jun 2014

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Instead of continuing with strong measures to collect the tax arrears coming to about Rs. 14,000 crore from major telecom company Vodafone, the NDA Government is becoming soft. It has now appointed a negotiator, former Supreme Court Chief Justice R.C.Lahoti to deal with the issue.

It is reported that there are similar other tax arrears, which in total, would come to about Rs. 27,000 crore, including that of Nokia, Oyj etc. All these also will go to the negotiator for settlement.

The BJP spokesmen have already indicated that the retrospective tax practice would retard the confidence of the foreign investors, which is a clear indication that the new government at the centre is prepared to adjust the tax arrears. Such a decision will result in heavy loss to the exchequer and windfall profit to the private MNCs. The government should, instead, be firm in collecting the due tax arrears.

BSNL Management should hang its head in shame for cheating the workers.

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by in BSNL News, BSNLEU

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The BSNL Management has released on 16-06-2014 the agreement between the Staff Side and the Official Side signed on 31-01-2013 on the change of designation of RM and TM. Accordingly, the Regular Mazdoor designation will be changed in to Telecom Assistant and the Telecom Mechanic designation will be changed to Telecom Technician. While there was no stipulation that this agreement will be implemented only after settlement on the change of designation of Sr.TOA and TTA, such a clause is also arbitrarily written as an after thought below the signatures.

It is more than one and half years since the agreement was signed. But the management did not even release the agreement. It is the same management which continuously changed the designations of the ITS officers and in some cases that of executives at their will and pleasure. But when it is a question of non-executives, it is only delay and neglect. The Management should hang its head in shame at its neglect of its own workforce.

Vodafone says, Govts. asked access to intercept its calls, messages

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

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Vodafone, one of the biggest telecom operators in the world has revealed that India was among the 29 nations that sought access to its network to intercept calls, text messages and e—mails last year, the UK—based group said.

But it did not disclose whether the requests were met by the company or not. With regard to India also, it did not reveal the same.

The governments are illegally trying to peep in to the private lives of the people, which is against the law. And mostly, the private companies are allowing them to do so. If it is for the security of the country, it is different. But most mostly these interceptions are done for other purposes.

BSNL staff strength reduced by more than one lakh.

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by in BSNL - Better Service to the Nation, BSNL News

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Every month, the number of staff in BSNL is being reduced by thousands. During the last 13 years of its existence, more than one lakh thirty thousand employees have retired with only about 30,000 recruited.

While there were about 3.5 lakh employees at the time of formation of BSNL, the present staff strength is only about 2.45 lakhs.

There is extreme necessity for new recruitment in the lowest cadres of the non-executives, where no recruitment has taken place since BSNL formation, except for regularisation of some TSM/casual labour, which also has been stopped since 2006.

Whatever the management may say, this is one of the reasons for the deterioration of the services. While the management has agreed in the National Council that fresh blood is required, no action has been taken by it so far for new recruitment in the lowest cadres. This should be done to save BSNL and for a better service to the customers.

Membership Verification for Executive Associations in BSNL

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

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BSNL has issued orders for conducting Membership Verification for grant of recognition to Executive Association in BSNL. The Verification will be held on 10th December and result announced on 12th December 2014.

The issue has been pending for a long time. The process will now start from 15th July 2014 before which the Associations have to apply for participating in the membership verification.

Homage to Com. K. Adinarayana, stalwart of P and T TU Movement

16 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in Obituary, Tributes, P&T TU History, Uncategorized

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17th June 2014 is the 11th death anniversary of Comrade K.Adinarayana, veteran leader of the P and T Trade Union Movement. There have been many illustrious leaders of the Posts and Telegraphs Trade Union Movement in the past and present and will be some more in the future. But it is difficult to find another comrade like K. Adinarayana, who had come from the lowest strata and through sincerity, dedication and hard-work had reached the highest leadership both in the P and T and the of Central Government Employees’ movement.

His life has been a saga of struggle and sacrifice. Com.Adi, as he is affectionately called, was involved in mass movements from a very young age which resulted in his discontinuing formal education itself. He was jailed for three and half years during 1950-53 for participation in the great Telengana movement. He joined P and T Department in 1954 as ED. He retired in June 1986 as LSG clerk. From day one of joining the P and T he was in the thick of the movement. He was elected as the General Secretary of Postmen and Class IV Union in 1968 and continued till 1997. He was elected as Secretary General, NFPE in 1992 and vacated the position in 2001 due to ill health.

I had been fortunate to have the opportunity of working together with Com. Adi in the movement for many years, especially after I joined CHQ of All India Telecom Employees Union Class III New Delhi as its President in 1991 and later as its General Secretary from 1994. On all matters of importance I used to consult him and seek his advice. He was suffering from many ailments, but still used to be very active. His residence in the V.P.House was a centre for union leaders to go and discuss issues with him.

He was staying at his ancestral home in Hyderabad after leaving New Delhi. When the sad news of his death reached, along with Coms. C.C.Pillai, then SG NFPE, K.K.N.Kutty, Convener of Confederation and Des Raj Sharma, GS Postmen and Group D Employees, I also went to pay our respects to the departed leader. The body was taken for funeral after we reached there. Hundreds of CG employees, postal workers and others were there. We placed wreaths and paid our homage.

on his 11th death anniversary, I pay homage to Com. K.Adinarayana, whose life was completely dedicated to the cause of the working class.
Red Salute to Com. Adinarayana !