11th December 2019 is the 45th death anniversary of Com.K.G.Bose, the revolutionary leader of the central government and P and T employees. He left us on 11th December 1974 at the comparatively young age of 54 at a London hospital, where he was getting treated for cancer, an incurable disease at that time.

Krishna Gopal Basu, born on 7th July 1921, entered the Posts and Telegraph Department in 1941 as a clerk in the Divisional Engineer, Telegraphs office at Calcutta at a salary of Rs. 45 per month. Father having passed away early, as the eldest son of the family, he has to look after the family and getting a government job was a relief. From the start he was connected with the trade union movement and became an active worker of the then Indian Telegraph Association, formed by Mr. Henry Barton, one of the pioneers of the P and T trade union movement.

In the historic 1946 Postmen strike organised by Com.V.G.Dalvi, Coms. Dada Ghosh and K.G.Bose organised the entire P and T employees in Bengal and Assam making it a complete success. KG was arrested and jailed for months in connection with the declared 1949 strike. He was later dismissed from service and was never taken back. His younger brother, Com.Moni Bose who was working in the same department was terminated in connection with the same strike and never taken back.

K.G.Bose, took an important role in formation of Union of P and T Workers (UPTW) formed in 1947, uniting most of the existing various unions in the department and later National Federation of P and T Unions (NFPTE) on 24th November 1954, with 9 all India Unions affiliated to it. He worked as Circle Secretary of Engg. III and Postal III unions in W.Bengal for a long time. He was also President of the Postal Class Union. His prominent role in the struggle for introduction of Festival Advance for employees along with Dada Ghosh and Sisir Bhattacharjee was well appreciated.He played a vital role in organising the historic strikes central government employees in 1960 and 1968.

K.G.Bose was leader of the progressive section in NFPTE, along with Comrades N.J.Iyer, K.Adinarayana and others. He was elected as the President of NFPTE in 1970 defeating the revisionist leadership led by Com.O.P.Gupta. He toured all over India and organised the workers for struggles. During these years I could meet him several times and his advices were carried out by me.

Continuous journey and hard work resulted in deterioration of his health. He was sent to London for better treatment and passed away there on 11th December 1974. The first building in his memory, “K.G.Bose Bhavan” was constructed in Calicut.

The memory of Com.K.G.Bose will continue to inspire many generations of CG and P and T employees.