It has been brought to my notice today by our comrades that a write up in my name is put by some unidentified unscrupulous person in WhatsApp, with full of non-sense and rubbish, as if it is forwarded from my blog. Either the person is mad or has done it to malign BSNLEU and me. He can be an agent of Tata Telecommunications also. The ideas and suggestions put in that are completely against facts and intended to support the government in privatising BSNL and also to divide the executives and non-executives. I condemn the forgery and request my readers to completely ignore it.
My post in the blog with the heading “What is happening in Tata Communications Ltd (former VSNL)” dated 11-05-2012 is reproduced below:

“What is happening in Tata Communications Ltd (former VSNL)?

 Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) was one of the first PSUs privatised by handing over to Tata for a mere Rs. 1439 crores in 2002. Now the name of the company has also been changed to Tata Communications Limited (TCL). What is happening in the TCL is not much known. But it is a must for any worker to know what happens to the workers in a privatised PSU.

Before being corporatized in to a PSU, VSNL was Overseas Communications, a section of the Department of Telecom.  It was corporatized with the specific intention of handing over this lucrative service to the private companies. In 2002, it was sold to the Tatas and an agreement was made on 06-02-2002 called “Share Purchase and Share Holder Agreement” between the government and the Tatas. As per this agreement, the workers were assured that there will be no retrenchment of the existing employees. The SC/ST employees, the disabled and employees coming under weaker sections will continue to get all the benefits they were enjoying earlier and they also will not be retrenched.

But what happened afterwards is entirely different from the agreement and assurances. The existing employees were harassed and were inhumanly treated by the new management. Many had to leave the company to escape from harassment and victimisation. While there were about 2600 employees at the time of privatisation, there are only about 700 left in service now.

In between, about 7,000 new employees were recruited. Their wages etc. were revised but these benefits were denied to the earlier employees. There is severe discrimination in the treatment meted out to the existing workers compared to the newly recruited workers. Further, the Tata management is now compelling all the former VSNL employees to resign and leave the company. They are threatened with retrenchment if they don’t opt for resignation.

All these anti-worker decisions of the TCL are completely against the assurances and agreement made at the time of handing over the company to the present owners. The workers denied of justice by the management have approached the court to stop the retrenchment. The workers have also demanded that they be repatriated to the DOT.

The cases of the other PSUs like BALCO, Centaur Hotels etc. which have been privatised, are not different. Humiliation, harassment, retrenchment etc. are the treatment meted out to the former PSU workers, including women.

The central government is implementing the neo-liberal policy aggressively and these are part of the same. India Inc, MNCs, big business and the media have been completely singing praise of these anti-worker policies. But, in fact, this policy of disinvestment, privatisation etc, are nothing but loot of the assets of the nation by the unscrupulous and profit hungry MNCs and big business with the full support of the ruling classes.

Hence it is the responsibility and duty of the working class to strongly oppose these anti-people, anti-worker policies and their implementation through sustained and mighty joint struggles and defeat them.”

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