I am at Madikeri, Coorg, to attend the Circle Conference of BSNLEU Karnataka. Karnataka is a major circle which has organisationslly strengthened year after year. It is a great pleasure to attend this conference and meet all the comrades who contributed much to the organisation.

The experience of the Historic Five Days Strike, which started on 19th September 1968 has taught me a lot of lessons. The demands of the central government employees, how cruelly the government deals with its own employees, the unity and sacrifices of leaders and workers, the committment to the cause and determination to face any eventuality – these are all the experiences which made me to be a union activist.
Struggle for Unity, Unity for Struggle and Struggle & Unity for Progress has been our slogan in the Forward March.

19th September 1968 is a date written in golden letters in the annals of
P & T and Central Govt. Employees Trade Union movement. It is on that day that lakhs of Central Govt. employees went on One Day Token Strike demanding Need Based Minimum Wage and other pressing issues.
The strike was a big success. The Indira Gandhi Government utilised all the state machinaries to suppress the strike. Strikers were victimised as never before. Thousands were arrested, jailed,  dismissed, suspended and punished. The workers fought against victimisation and by 3 years all were taken back. The strike and afterwards was a saga of sacrifice and struggle.
It is through such glorious struggles that P & T Trade Union movement has grown.

It seems that death warrant has been issued to mobile brand  Nokia. It is reported that Microsoft, the present owners, have decided to discard ‘Nokia’ and use ‘Lumia’ instead.
The world famous Nokia may become
a memory.

According to a report by the Centre for Development Studies, there  are 23.63 lakh Kerala people in foreign countries. In Gulf Countries  alone, there are 18 lakhs.

As per decision of the Party, the CPI(M) Members of Parliament will be contributing Rs. 10 crore to the J&K Flood Relief.This will be done by diverting @ Rs.50 lakhs by each MP from the MPLAP Funds.
Good decision. The CPI(M) has taken correct decision.

The super rich are fast increasing in India. As per reports in the press there are 109 billionaires in India double than last year.
The top ten rich in India are the following:
Mukesh Ambani – 1.65 Lakh Crore
Dilip Singhvi        –  1.29 Lakh crore
L.N.Mittal             –  0.97 Lakh crore
Azim Premji         –  0.86 Lakh crore
Shiv Nadar     .     –  0.78  Lakh crore
S.P.Hinduja          –  0.72 Lakh crore
Pallonji Mistry     –  0.63 lakh crore
K.M.Birla              –   0.62 lakh crore
Sunil Mittal           –   0.51 lakh crore
Gautam Adani      –   0.44 lakh crore
Super Rich are increasing; the poorest also in crores increase.This is the land of crony capitalism!

All trade unions in the Coal India Limited has strongly protested the move of Government to hive off the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) from CIL. In  a meeting with CIL Chairman and top Officers on 16 September CITU and other TUs expressed their strong protest.

It seems that Modi wave is on the wane. In the Bye election results in various states, BJP lost its some sitting seats to Congress in Rajasthan and Gujarat and to SP in U.P.
The people learn from Experience. No government can take the support of people as granted. It depends on the performance of the party and government.

The agitation of BSNLEU and BSNLCCWF in T.Nadu has been withdrawn to day after discussion with Circle administration and settlement. The circle leaders of both the unions were on hunger strike for the last two days. Today  there was massive mobilisation with more than 1500 workers participating in the hunger strike.
The circle BSNL administration after discussion agreed to take back 85 workers immediately and the rest in a phased way who were terminated at Vellore and for whose reinstatement the agitation was started.
Hearty Congratulation to the leaders and workers of both BSNLEU and BSNLCCWF for their successful struggle!