Author Archives: VAN NAMBOODIRI

TRAI takes firm stand on Net-Neutrality

09 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Telecom

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Putting an end to the discriminating tariff plans of certain net-providers like Facebook and Airtel, the TRAI has taken a firm stand on Net-Neutrality. Violation of Net-Neutrality will invite penalty up to a maximum of Rs.50 lakh.

The TRAI stated as follows: ” Keeping in view of India’s large number of Net users and content producers, the authority has taken a view that  prohibition of discriminatory tariff for data services is necessary to ensure service providers continue to fulfill obligations in keeping Internet open and non-discriminatory.”

Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero are barred accordingly. It is reported that Facebook has spent thousands of crores of rupees towards publicity of its Free Basics.

Reason has won at least for the present. TRAI has stated that it may review the decision after two years. The service providers have been given 6 months time to comply with the present decision.

 

PSU Banks write-off Rs.1.14 lakhs NPA

09 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in General

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The public sector banks in India have written off loans of more than Rs.1.14 lakh crores during 2013-15 alone as per an RTI reply received from the Reserve  Bank of India. Out of this, more than Rs. 40,000 crore is from SBI alone. 29 Banks have written off such NPAs. The RBI refused to provide even the details of the loans taken of more than Rs. 100 crores.

The non-repaid loans which are called Non-Performing Assets(NPA) have been increasing. These are mainly loans of large amounts coming to hundreds of crores of rupees mostly given to big corporates and business concerns. While the small amount loans of a few lakhs or so are recovered through coercive measures from the common people, the big sharks are let off. The government also keeps silence. The common men’s savings are gifted to the corporates. The PSUs are let to bleed. This injustice has to be put an end to.

 

How Many Persons pay Income Tax? Only 3% ?

08 Monday Feb 2016

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It is reported by NDTV that according to the figures available, it is only about 3% of the total population of more than 100 crores in the country, who pay income tax. In this, about one crore or more are Central/State government and PSU employees whose Income Tax is correctly deducted and paid.

If the report is true, then only another two crores and plus are paying Income Tax? The government is bound to give an explanation to this? Arun Jaitely, Finance Minister will certainly has to answer the question that what the government is doing to collect the Income Tax, from those liable to pay?

Telecom TU Movement (20) – National Convention Against NTP – 1994

08 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by in BSNL - Better Service to the Nation, BSNLEU, CG Employees, Telecom TU Movement 1991-2015

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 Door Sanchar Sangharsh Samiti formed.

It is in this context to enable united action that “Door Sanchar Sangharsh Samiti” was formed with representatives of E.III, T.III, Administrative Union, P&T Industrial Union, JTOA, TESA (Delhi), ITI Employees Union, ITI Office Assn etc. with Com. A.K.Kaushik as Convener.

All India Convention against Telecom Privatisation – 20-04-1995

About 2000 delegates reached from all parts of the country to attend the All India convention against Privatisation of Telecom held at Mavlankar Hall, New Delhi on 20th April 1995. The Convention was presided over by a Presidium consisting of Coms. Moni Bose, M.K.Bagchi, Pabitra Chakraborty, Sisir Bhattacharjee, Salim, Manjunataswamy and Naresh Kumar.

Com.V.A.N.Namboodiri,, GS, E.III welcomed all including the chief guests and explained the  reasons for holding the convention.

Justice P.N.Bhagavathy inaugurated the Convention lighting the lamp. He urged the workers to be more conscious about their duties and oppose corruption. S/Shri S.M.Agarwal, Former Chairman, P&T Board, D.K.Sanghal, former Chairman, Telecom Board, P.R.Kumara Mangalam, M.P. and former Minister, N.Ram, Editor, Frontline, E.Balanandan, M.P. and President CITU, A.B.Bardhan, General Secretary AITUC, Neelotpal Basu, M.P., Prabir Purkayastha, Delhi Science Forum, Manjunatha Swami, G.L.Jogi, Moni Bose, P.S.Ramankutty, GS T.III, and other leaders addressed. A resolution on the  Programmes of Action to be implemented was adopted. The Convention appealed to all telecom workers to oppose NTP and privatization and to be prepared for sustained struggles.

The Convention called upon the employees to organize Day Long Dharna on 05-05-1995, holding of Circle/SSA level Conventions in preparations for the strike and Relay hunger Strike from 09.00 hours on 23rd  to 1800 hours on 24th May 1995 against NTP and privatization.

March to Prime Minister’s Residence

More than 3000 employees and officers participated in the March to the Prime Minister’s residence. The procession was stopped by police, where a rally was held. Coms. A.K.Koushik(TESA), Convener, DSSS and other leaders addressed.

A delegation consisting of Coms. V.A.N.Namboodiri. A.K.Koushik, G.L.Jogi and salim(ITI) went to PM’s residence and handed over the Memorandum protesting against the proposal for privatization of telecom and  connections of the government and demanded to put a stop to the proposals.

The largely attended Convention and March enthused and inspired the workers for militant struggles against privatization.

E.III Meeting

The meeting of E.III comrades participated in the convention was held in the Hindu Mahasabha Hall presided by Com. Moni Bose, President.  The future programmes were discussed and decided. The meeting decided to continue with the agitation against privatization of telecom sector.

DA and Interim Relief

The Confederation of Central Government Employees & workers called upon the workers to organize protest demonstrations on 31st May 1995 demanding immediate grant of DA merger and Interim Relief, since the report of the CPC is being delayed. E.III Union called upon its workers to fully implement the call jointly along with other organizations.

Recognition of Unions withdrawn

Since the New Recognition Rules were implemented, the recognition of all the Unions/Federations in Telecom was withdrawn w.e.f. 05-05-1995. However, it was assured that JCM will continue and the facilities to the unions will not be withdrawn.

Dharna against Privatisation

As per the call of the Door Sanchar Sangharsh Samiti, massive demonstrations were conducted all over the country on 05-05-1995. In Delhi, a very impressive dharna was organized at Khurshid Lal Bhawan, which was addressed by Coms. K.Adinarayana, General Secretary, P.IV Union, K.K.N.Kutty, General Secretary ITEF, M.K.Bagchi, V.A.N.Namboodiri, G.L.Jogi, Pabitra Chakraborty, A.K.Kaushik, K.Mohanan Pillai, Chhidu Singh and other leaders.

The representatives of the Door Sanchar Sangharsh Samiti, V.A.N.Namboodiri, M.K.Bagchi, Pabitra Chakraborty and A.K.Kaushik  met the Chairman, Telecom Commission, R.K.Takkar and protested against the decision to allot space in departmental offices to the private companies. They also protested against privatization proposals.

In the meeting of the 3 Federations with Communications Minister Sukh Ram on 2nd June 1995, the leaders strongly opposed the move for privatization. But the Minister justified the National Telecom Policy and privatization. V.A.N.Namboodiri participated on behalf of E.III Union.

3 Federations serve Indefinite Sit-in-Strike Notice

As per the decision taken by the three Federations, NFTE, FNTO and BTEF, notice was served on Chairman Telecom Commission for organizing Indefinite Sit-in-Strike from 19th June 1995 demanding “Stop Privatisation of Telecom”. This was signed by O.P.Gupta (NFTE), R.Venkatraman (FNTO), Suresh Kumar(BTEF) and Raghubir Singh(Leader Staff Side, JCM). E.III union issued circulars calling upon the employees to fully participate in the strike. The three Federations also issued detailed circular exposing the arguments of the government for privatisation. This was an indictment of the government.

The workers were agitated over the government move for privatization and were fully ready to go on Indefinite Strike.  (To be continued)

Organise ‘S.K.Vyas Memorial Day’ on 13th February 2016

07 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in AIBDPA - BSNL DOT Pensioners, Obituary, Tributes

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SK Vyas

13th February 2016 is the first death anniversary Com. S.K.Vyas, the legendary leader of the Central government employees and pensioners. For more than 5 decades he was the Secretary General of the Confederation of the Central Government Employees and Workers. He was the main spokesman to present the case of the CG Employees before the several Central Pay Commissions, including the VII CPC. He was the founder Secretary General of the NCCPA, the umbrella organisation of the Pensioners associations till his death.

NCCPA All India Conference held at Kolkata had called upon all the Pensioners organisations to observe 13th February as ‘S.K.Vyas Memorial day’. The day will be observed through out the country with massive participation by holding meetings, discussions, seminars etc.

Red Salute to Com. S.K.Vyas!

 

A Brief Report on the inspiring AIC of AIBDPA at Tirupati

07 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in AIBDPA - BSNL DOT Pensioners

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AIC AIBDPADOT-BSNL Pensioners on Struggle Path 

 V.A.N.Namboodiri

The Second Triennial All India Conference of All India BSNL DOT Pensioners Association (AIBDPA) held at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh on 2-3 February 2016 has called upon the pensioners to continue the struggle for defending their hard earned rights and fight against the anti-worker, anti-pensioner policies of the government.

The Conference started with the flag hoisting. National Flag was hoisted by Com. A.K.Bhattacharjee, President AIBDPA and Union flag by Com. V.A.N.Namboodiri, Advisor. All the delegates paid respectful homage ­­­­­­at the Martyrs Column.

The Conference was inaugurated by veteran trade union leader and CITU Vice-President Comrade T.R.Rengarajan, M.P., who severely criticized the neo-liberal policies being implemented by the central government. Unless the brutal exploitation of the unorganized workers, who are more than 90% of the total workforce in the country,  is opposed and defeated,  even the existing rights and benefits of the workers and pensioners earned through decades of  hard struggles, will be in danger, he stated. He congratulated the AIBDPA for taking up the issues of the pensioners and organizing sustained struggles.

Com. A.K.Bhattacharjee, All India President AIBDPA presided. Shri Y.Srinivasulu Reddy, MLC, Chairman, Reception Committee, welcomed all. Comrades P.Abhimanyu, General Secretary, BSNLEU, V.A.N.Namboodiri, Member, TUI(P and R),  Animesh Mitra, Secretary General, BSNLCCWF, K.Raghavendran,  General Secretary, AIPRPA, P.V.Chandrasekharan, Patron, AIBDPA, K.G.Jayaraj, General Secretary, AIBDPA, J.Sampath  Rao, Circle Secretary, BSNLEU, Andhra Pradesh, Y.S.Raju, General Secretary, Reception Committee, ShriM.S.A.Nutan, GMTD, Tirupati  addressed.

The Conference was held at the spacious Sri Rama Tulasi Kalyana  Mandapam which was named “S.K.Vyas Nagar”, in memory of the legendary leader of the central government employees and pensioners, who passed away last year. More than 1000 delegates/visitors/observers attended the Conference. A good number of women delegates were present.  Banners and flags from the participating circle unions and greetings from sister unions filled up the conference venue.

The Delegates Session started in the afternoon of the first day. Draft Report of Activities for the last three years since the Conference at Kannur was presented by the General Secretary. The issues taken up by the Association, the agitations organized, the growth of the organization, relations with the sister unions, effort to improve BSNL and its services – all were reported in detail in the report.  AIBDPA is affiliated with National Co-Ordination Committee of Pensioners Association (NCCPA), the umbrella organization of central pensioners as also to Trade Union International (Pensioners & Retirees) which is part of the World Federation of Trade Unions(WFTU). AIBDPA has been participating in all the struggles and programmes given call by the Central Trade Unions and also the Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations.  The Audited Accounts for the last three years was presented by Com.M.P.Kunhanandan, Treasurer.

About 40 delegates spoke on orgnaisational matters as well as issues of the pensioners. The discussion was both educative and to the point indicating the maturity of the delegates, most of whom were active leaders of the union while in service. The delegates severely criticized the retrograde recommendations of the VII CPC. Both the Report and the Accounts were adopted unanimously after discussion by the delegates.

The Conference continued on 3rd February when many important Resolutions were adopted. These included on the recommendations of the VII CPC,  Revival of BSNL, demands of the pensioners and retirees, against PFRDA, On Communal Harmony, against intolerance etc. Constitutional amendments increasing the Membership Fee etc. were adopted after discussion.

Office-bearers were unanimously elected with Comrades V.A.N.Namboodiri (Advisor), P.V.Chandrasekharan (Patron) A.K.Bhattacharjee (President), K.G.Jayaraj (General Secretary) and Aravindakshan Nair (Treasurer).

The Reception Committee had made excellent arrangements for the holding of the All India Conference, which was well appreciated by the delegates and a resolution passed to that effect.

Tirupati AIC is another milestone in the forward march of the BSNL-DOT Pensioners and their dear organization AIBDPA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gramin Dak Sevak Committee (GDSC) formed

07 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in CG Employees

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The  Gramin Dak Sevak Committee(GDSC) One Man Committee has been formed with Kamalesh Chandra. The Commission has called for Memorandums from the Postal Federations in the items included in the terms of reference for consideration and recommendations.

VII CPC – Empowered Committee Of Secretaries (ECOS) formed

07 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in CG Employees, VII CPC

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The central government has appointed an Empowered Committee Of Secretaries (ECOS) on 27-01-2016, headed by Cabinet Secretary to look and finalise the implementation of the VII Central Pay Commission recommendations. The Secretaries of various departments have been asked to get the views of the staff associations in this respect which also will be considered before any final decision is taken.

The Confederation of CG Employees and Workers has asked its affiliates to submit their notes to the concerned Heads of Departments.

Jeewan Praman – Life Certificate through Digital Process

07 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in AIBDPA - BSNL DOT Pensioners, Pension

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Now Life Certificate for Pensioners can be provided by digital process. The Press Release issued by the Ministry of Communications and IT dated 02-02-2016 is reproduced below:


Government of India

Ministry of Communications & Information Technology

02-February-2016 15:00 IST

Jeevan Pramaan- A Hit With Pensioners 

Jeevan Pramaan (https://jeevanpramaan.gov.in/) provides a big relief to all pensioners. A pensioner can now digitally provide Annual Life Certificate to the authorities for continuity of pension instead of presenting himself physically or through a Life Certificate issued by specified authorities every year. Lakhs of pensioners on various schemes are already benefitting from it.

             Launched by the Prime Minister on 10th Nov 2014, nearly 12.5 Lakhs pensioners have registered for Digital Life Certificate (DLC) in about a year. Interestingly the enrolled pensioners come from different districts of the country showing the interest the facility has generated all over the country including in far flung rural and hilly districts. Started with Civil pensioners of Central Government only, several other pensioner schemes have adopted Jeevan Pramaan and provide this facility of Digital Life Certificate to these pensioners. Presently apart from civil Central Government employees, Defence services, Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), Post Offices, Railways, Defence Pensioners Disbursement Office (DPDOs), several PSUs including Mumbai Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust and New Delhi Municipal Council are providing this service.

State Governments have also recognized the potential of Jeevan Pramaan and adopted the service. State Governments of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Pondicherry, Odisha, Andaman & Nicobar, Rajasthan and Jharkhand have already started providing these services.

Jeevan Pramaan service is provided by NIC through a Central Portal developed on Open source. The platform is highly scalable. Developed using in-house manpower, the portal has been developed and maintained free of cost to all the user agencies and is also free for pensioners. 

            In Jeevan Pramaan a pensioner can digitally show that he or she is alive using his/her biometrics. Biometric devices are available in CSC’s, Bank branches, Pensioner associations, Govt. offices etc. More over any citizen can also purchase a finger print scanner and do the identification from home. A typical finger print scanner currently costs around Rs. 2600/- only and the prices are expected to come down in future. The usefulness of Jeevan Pramaan will increase even further as the biometric authentication device gets integrated with mobile phones.

            All pension disbursing organizations, which have a requirement of periodic life certificate to continue disbursing pension are welcome to join this free offering.

            For more details they are required contact Ms Nandita Chaudhri, DDG, NIC (Email: ) 

*****

KSP/ss
(Release ID :136003)

Biggest Strike Organised in Greece on 4th February 2016

07 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in TUI of Pensioners and Retirees, WFTU

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A Report from Greece on the great strike organised on 4th February 2016

‘A great strike organized today in Athens, Greece by PAME. Over 50,000 workers and people Took part in one of the greatest Demonstrations in Athens the last years. With great success PAME organized mobilizations Present in more than 70 major cities of Greece. In Athens, in Syntagma square comrade Valentin Pacho addressed the Demonstrators and Expressed solidarity of the WFTU and Its 92 million members in 126 Countries Struggling to the people of Greece.’

We congratulate the workers of Greece and their great organisation PAME for the General Strike. We convey our support to the struggle!