83 over. 84 started. Journey continues.Fortunate to meet lakhs of comrades, friends, workers and acquaintances. Part of their valiant struggles. Overwhelming love and affection.Mistakes and misadventures part of forward march.Inspiring memories of many great leaders, colleagues and comrades, who passed away. Trying to adjust; not to be a burden to next generation.Old age, part of life. ‘Physical weakness need not necessarily weaken the mind.’ – Only partly true. As a child, eagerly waited for birthdays. At least a Payasam ( sweet pudding) will be there. After getting job and involved in union activities, forgot birthdays, mine as well as family. Better half used to complain that on birthdays, festivals etc. I will be on tour. After returning from Delhi in 2017, again started remembering Birthdays, both mine and family members. (Of course, with the help of the diary and better half.) Old saying: “Children and old aged have many similarities.”

Red Salute to Com.Vimal Ranadive on her 22nd death anniversary on 24th July 2021. ( below is the post reproduced from CITU two years back.)

Com Vimal Ranadive Amar Rahe

Born on 10 April 1915 in a middle class family in Maharashtra, she joined the anti colonial nationalist movement at the tender age of 12-13 as a Seva Dal volunteer. At the age of 15, she was arrested for picketing a foreign cloth shop. The British judge asked her to admit the mistake and apologise. She boldly refused and said “We know what we have done and for what, we won’t apologise” and went to jail gladly.

In 1930, more than eighty years ago, it was the choice made by a fifteen year old girl, Vimal. It was a choice to fight injustice, to fight all kinds of exploitation and therefore to fight imperialist aggression. She stood by this choice all through her life.

Vimaldi developed solidarity with the cause of the poor, the working class and became a communist. She worked to earn a living for her siblings, married a communist, B T Ranadive, who had to go underground on the day of their marriage. When her son was just two years old she was jailed for two years. She spent many years underground including at the time of the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi.

She was actively involved in organising workers in Mumbai and was part of the upsurge of the Mumbai working class and the naval ratings in 1946.She was the first General Secretary of the All India Plantation Workers’ Federation, the founder President of the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers & Helpers Aifawh CITU and was the leader of the #Beedi workers also. She was the founder Convenor of the #AICCWW (CITU) and continued in that position till her death. She was Secretary, CITU – Centre of Indian Trade Unions and was a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) . She was the founder editor of ‘The Voice of the Working Woman’ and ‘Kamkaji Mahila’.

She died on 24th July 1999. Let us pledge to continue the uncompromising struggle against all kinds of exploitation, injustice and inequalities. Let us fight authoritarian communal BJP regime. Let us also make a choice-s of commitment to the cause of the toiling people of the world.

The illtreatment of BSNL retirees by the BSNL management is continuing unabated. They don’t care if the retirees die without medical attention for want of money. The management is in no mood to listen to the genuine demands of the pensioners to clear their medical bills pending since 01-04-2019 and the medical allowance from 2018.

At the same time, the BSNL management is engaged in harrassing the BSNL pensioners in the name of fresh option for the year 2020-21 and insisist submission of option by those already submitted. It is nothing but a futile exercise only to put the poor elders to further miseries. CHQ has taken up the issue with the BSNL management to withdraw the office order dated 07-07-2021 in this regard.

AIBDPA has conducted several agitations when representations to the management, Communications Minister and the Prime Minister failed. So we have no other alternative other than continue the fight against this most inhuman stance. So let us make the email campaign on 22-07-2021 by Circle Secretaries and District Secretaries ,a grand success.

TEXT OF THE EMAILS

Shri. P K Purwar,,

CMD, BSNL,

Bharat Sanchar Bhawan, Janpath

New Delhi- 110001 ( cmdbsnl@bsnl.co.in )

Sir,

The ailing and aged BSNL pensioners in distress due to non-payment medical bills and medical allowances for the last three years.

Request early intervention for release of sufficient funds to clear the pending medical benefits.

Yours sincerely

Signature

Name of Circle/District Secretary

(aibdpa website)

Good Morning to all our Comrades, Friends and Well Wishers!

BSNLCCWF Website was not functioning for some time. Financial difficulty was one of the reasons.

Now we are starting the website once again, trying to overcome the difficulties. From today onwards news about BSNLCCWF, our problems, general issues etc will be posted.

The Covid pandemic has taken away lakhs of people all over the world. Many of our comrades also are victims. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

Attack on our jobs, wages and social security measures continue. Thousands of workers have been retrenched. Wages are due for months and in some circle, years. SLA system is introduced.

Our task is to settle our problems at the earliest. A strong organisation is required for the same. BSNLEU and AIBDPA are also with us in this respect. A Co-ordinating Committee has been formed with Com. K.G.Jayaraj GS, AIBDPA as Chairman, Com.P.Abhimanyu, GS, BSNLEU as Convener and Com Animesh Mitra, SG BSNLCCWF as Joint Convener. Joint efforts will be made to settle the problems.

Attacks on the working class continues. PSUs are being privatised. Trade Union rights are being taken away. Kisans are on a long battle for their existence. We are also part of these united struggles.

Despite all difficulties, we have to strengthen the union and move forward for settling our demands and ensuring our rights. Let us move forward together.

With Warm Greetings,
V.A.N.Namboodiri,
President, BSNLCCWF

However it is different in Kerala. The LDF government is filling up up maximum posts including that of teachers, clerks, doctors, nurses, health workers etc. etc. Two approaches.

It is 8 years back on this day, 15th July, that Telegraph/ Telegram services in India were closed, a service maximum used and cherished by the people. The new generation may forget, but the old generation can not forget the telegraph/telegram services, which were almost inseparable part of their life. It was on 24th October 1851 that the telegraph service was first introduced in India. It was in a small route between Calcutta, then capital of British India, and Diamond Harbour.The history of telegraphs started long back. The electrical telegraph was invented in 1775. The first commercial telegraphs were introduced by the Western Railways in Britain in the 1830s. It was introduced in India in 1850s along with the railways. The telephones were not invented then and the fastest communication system was the telegraphs. Only the Britishers were employed as telegraphists both in Railways and in Telegraph Offices in the initial stages due to its utmost importance and secrecy. The Britishers used the Telegraphs and Railways effectively to crush the First Independence War of 1857, which they called as ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. The Telegraphs grew fantastically during the second part of the 20th century and there were telegraph offices in all important cities and towns. In small places, the services were manned by the Postal officials called ‘Signallers’, who kept the connection between the cities and the villages through telegraph wires.Telegrams were sent by government as also by public to inform urgent and important news. The Central Telegraph Offices (CTOs) in the metro cities used to have about 100 or 200 telegraphists at the same time and round the clock. The telegrams were taken as official records in the courts etc. It was authentic and clear. Since the charge for sending telegram was on the basis of the number of words, the message was constructed briefly with minimum number of words. The message may be of great happiness or that of sorrow like death or disease. The unions used to organise ‘Telegram Campaigns’ as a method of protest sending the same in large numbers to the concerned authorities.After the growth of telephones and mobile services, the importance of telegraphs started to wane. By the second decade of 21st century it was almost limited to certain official messages. According to the government and the BSNL, there was much loss and it can not be continued as a viable service.When the government decided to close the telegraph offices and telegraph/telegram services from 15th July, BSNL Unions put up strong protest and organised protest meetings. As President of BSNLEU, I went to Mumbai and Kolkata offices and held press conferences for getting the support of the people at large for continuing the services.Telegraph is a heritage service and accommodated in heritage buildings in the big cities. CTO buildings in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata etc. are heritage buildings, which have to be maintained as such. Lakhs and lakhs of documents connected with the history of the Mughal, British rule etc. are there in the old documents of the telegraph offices. Just like Western Court building in Delhi is occupied by a hotel, telegraph offices are being taken over by others for other purposes.A PLI case was filed in the court, but did not get any relief. It can only be said that the BSNL management had taken an unwise anti-people decision as also without taking in to confidence of the unions, which were trying to improve the services and make the company financially viable.Despite all efforts to ensure that the telegraph services are kept as a token of the past, as in the case of trams in Kolkata, neither the government nor the BSNL agreed. It was finally decided to close it on 15th July 2013 forever.Nobody expected what happened on the day. It was a pleasant surprise.Thousands of people gathered in front of telegraph offices to send their last telegrams to their near and dear ones. Even after midnight of 15/16 July, the queue did not stop and many people had to return disappointed that they could not send the last telegram. Their spontaneous response on the last day showed their love and appreciation of the telegraph services.Eight years are over after closure of telegraph services. The people have almost forgotten the ‘telegram’. The new generation may wonder what is ‘telegraphs’ and ‘telegram’? But those who knew telegram and sent or received them, still remember the same. For them it is nostalgia indeed!+3

1AK Padmanabhan1 Comment

The Central Government has decided to restore the frozen DA/DR instalments from 01-01-2020 to 30-06-2021 of central government employees and pensioners. The Cabinet meeting held on 14-07-2021 while restoring the three instalments of frozen DA/DR of 11% , made it clear that arrears of the frozen instalments of DA/DR will not be paid. Now, the total DA/DR upto 30-06-2021 will be 28%. No decision on the DA/DR due from 01-07-2021 is taken as the exact per cent is yet to be determined.

According to the deployment plan approved by the Cabinet, the number of PGM/GM level officers to be posted in BSNL during 2021-22 is just 199. However, today, the working number is more than 425. About 130 PGM/GM level officers are working in excess from 2020 onwards and in 2021-22 the number will be around 225. Management is simply accommodating hundreds of senior officers in BSNL without any justification and paying them the benefits of 7th CPC, LTC, Transport Allowance, TA, Tuition Fee reimbursement etc., on the revised rates, when the same are denied to BSNL employees. It is identified that, about 20 PGM/GMs are in excess at BSNLCO itself. BSNL is paying about Rs.90 to 100 crore per annum as salary and allowances for the excess officers working in BSNL. (from BSNLEU website)