Homage to Com.E.Balanandan on his 4th death anniversary

19 Saturday Jan 2013

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It is 4 years since Com.E.Balanandan, the veteran Communist, former President of CITU, PB Member of CPI(M) and former Member of Parliament had passed away on 19th Janauary 2009. From an electric worker he rose to the highest position in the trade union by his dedicated and committed work for the toiling masses. He was simplicity itself.
Personally myself and also P and T Union movement and BSNL Employees Union are indebted to Com. Balanandan for his advise and guidance in framing an ideological base and also strengthening the organisation. At the time of formation of BSNL Employees Union his guidance was inspiring. In all the crises, his advise saw us overcoming the hurdles.
Com. Balanandan is not with us now. But his memory and advise will always be remembered and we will march ahead.
Red Salute to Com. E.Balanandan!
V.A.N.Namboodiri
President, BSNLEU

Forum of BSNL Unions/Assns meet on 24th January.

18 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by in BSNL - Better Service to the Nation

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A meeting of the Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations will be held on 24th January to review the progress of the issues including 78.2% IDA fixation, ITS repatriation and other issues. All Unions/Associations of BSNL workers are requested to be present in the meeting.

MTNL proposes to sell its land?

18 Friday Jan 2013

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MTNL is in struggle to survive.It is reported that it is proposing to sell its land and a report published is given below:

“MUMBAI/BANGALORE: State-run telecom company MTNL has mandated property consultant DTZ and Feedback Infrastructure Services to help it monetise its 0.78 million sq ft of built up office space and land parcels in Mumbai and Delhi, persons familiar with the development said.

The consultants will also help MTNL in its plan to develop about 50 land parcels aggregating 6.10 million sq ft in these cities either on its own or in joint ventures with developers.

MTNL and DTZ did not respond to emailed queries.

According to an early estimate, MTNL is aiming to derive around 5,000 crore through the sale of property. Based on the appointed transaction advisor’s report, the telecom company will decide if it is feasible to develop these 50 land parcels in a phase-wise manner on its own through a contractor or to enter into joint development agreements with builders.

In an earlier interaction with ET, MTNL’s chairman and managing director AK Garg had confirmed that the company had invited bids from consultants.”

CPI(M) Statement on Decontrol of Prices of Diesel

17 Thursday Jan 2013

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I am reproducing the statement issued by the CPI(M) Central Committee on the decontrol of diesel prices by the government:

“The Central Committee condemned the decision of the UPA government to decontrol diesel prices. This will lead to continuous increase in the prices of diesel just as it happened with the prices of petrol after deregulation. The rise in the prices of diesel will impact on transport and increase inflation. It will also affect farmers adversely. The UPA government is adamant about further burdening the people who are already suffering from ever increasing price rise of all essential commodities.

In this connection, the decision to raise the cap on LPG cylinders to 9 is insufficient and provides little relief.”

RED SALUTE TO COM. JYOTI BASU ON HIS DEATH ANNIVERSARY

17 Thursday Jan 2013

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It is three years since Com. Jyoti Basu, former Chief Minister of W.Bengal for a record period of 23 years, and former PBM, CP(M) since its formation in 1964, passed away on 17th January 2010. He was the Vice-President of CITU from inception till his death. His life ( 08-07-1914 to 17-01-2010)was full of struggles for the toiling masses and for their improvement.
My Red Salute to Com. Jyoti Basu!

A.P.Circle keeps up tradition by printing Diary.

16 Wednesday Jan 2013

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Within minutes of publishing my earlier post on Calendar by Calicut SSA of BSNLEU, I got a mail from Com. Taranath, ACS, BSNLEU, A.P. Circle.He rightly asked me ‘whether you have forgotten our Diary?’
How can I forget the excellent Diary I am getting every year, even before starting of the year, with my name printed and pasted in golden letters, sent by Com. J.Sampat Rao, Circle Secretary, BSNLEU, AP, the biggest circle of BSNLEU? This time also I got it sufficiently early and cherished it.
But the fact is that the AP Diary 2013 is not with me now. It is a small story. A few days back, Com. Tankalal Shreshta, Advisor to Telecommunication Employees Association of Nepal (TEAN) and also the union nominated Director of the Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), came to Delhi. On my invitation he visited my quarters at D-7, Telegraph Place, Gole Market, New Delhi. We had tea and sweets together and discussed organisational and personal matters. I showed him the Union Calendar and also the Diary printed by the AP Union. He appreciated both. All of a sudden I thought that I will present the Diary to him. That is exactly what I did. He thanked me and told that it is a diary with my name and that I may like to keep it. I told him that you can remember me whenever you see the diary. Both of us laughed and appreciated each other.
Com. Taranath, when I told the above, stated that he will send me another Diary. Ok, he can send it any time. But his gesture itself is sufficient for me. Thank You AP comrades!

New Year Calendar by BSNLEU, Kozhikode SSA

16 Wednesday Jan 2013

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I have reached Kozhikode (Calicut) today to attend the marriage of my brother’s grand-son. In the evening, Com. Jayarajan, District Secretary, Calicut visited me to discuss some organisational matters. He gave me some copies of the 2013 calendar published by the District Union. It is attractive and beautiful. In addition, it has specially marked the important trade union events and memorable days separately. The calendar is suppllied to all members in the district. This, the District union has been doing for many years.
I congratulated the District Secretary and the District union for doing this good job.This systemm can be implemented by other districts/circles also.

DOT requests Govt. to exempt BSNL-MTNL from one time charge.

16 Wednesday Jan 2013

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The DOT has recommended to the Cabinet to exempt BSNL and MTNL from paying the one time charges for the spectrum allotted to these PSUs. Both of them together have to pay about Rs. 12,000 crore while the privae companies have to pay very less. This is because the one time charge is being levied for the balance period of licence,w.e.f.2012. In the case of private companies, they were given licence is 1995-96 and hence their licence period will be over by 2015-16 and hence they are to pay for 3-4 years only. In the case of MTNL and BSNL, the licences were given only after 2000 and hence the balance period is 8-10 years and hence the increase.
The Joint Forum of BSNL and MTNL Unions/Associations have been continuously demanding that BSNL and MTNL should be exempted from paying the one time charges since they do not have the money to pay being in loss and also that they are the engines of the government to implement its policies including universal service. Com. V.A.N.Namboodiri, Convener, Joint Forum along with other leaders have already met Addl. Secretary, DOT, Member (Finance ), Member (Services), Joint Secretary(T) DOT and other senior officers on this cause. It is one of the demands raised in the charter by the JF in the last agitation.
We are happy that the DOT has now recommended for exempting BSNL and MTNL from this payment. DOT and BSNL Management has to persue it strongly with the government for a favourable decision. Joint Forum will also pursue the demand strongly. We have to ensure that BSNL and MTNL is exempted.

NEW DELHI: The telecom department (DoT) wants the central government to bear the cost of the one-time spectrum fee for BSNL and MTNL. Seeking Cabinet approval, the department has said that these loss-making and debt-stricken state-owned telcos are not in a position to shell out nearly Rs 12,000 crore toward this charge

Examination for 10% JAO

15 Tuesday Jan 2013

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I had a discussion today with Sri P.C.Mehta, Sr. GM (Rectt) on the examinations for the JTO (35%) and JAO (10%). He gave the assurance that the JTO LDCE will be held on 2nd June and that the JAO (10%) exam will be conducted by February or so.
We want all the examinations to be conducted in time so that the workers will get their legitimate promotion with out any delay. This is necessary to motivate the workers and improve efficiency.

Delhi pays Homage to Com. O.P.Gupta

15 Tuesday Jan 2013

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There was a meeting organised in Delhi CTO Hall today,15th January 2013, to pay homage to Comrade Om Prakash Gupta, veteran CGE and P and T Union leader, who passed away on 6th January. The meeting was organised under the auspices of NFTE, whose top leader he was for more than 6 decades.
The meeting was presided over by Comrade Islam Ahmed, President of NFTE. Com. C.Singh, GS NFTE welcomed all the participants. Com.V.A.N.Namboodiri, President, BSNLEU and Convener of Joint Forum of BSNL/MTNL Unions/Associations was invited to speak first. Com.Namboodiri paid flower tributes at the photo of com.O.P.Gupta placed on a table and initiated his speech. He paid high tribute to the dedicated and determined service of Com.O.P.Gupta for the benefit of the Central Government and Pand T workers. There may be differences and disputes over his certain actions, but his commitment and sincerity to the cause was never questioned. Com. Namboodiri remembered his long association with OPG. He paid respectful homage and expressed his deep condolence to the family members. Coms. Prahlad Rai, GS AIBSNLEA, K.Sebastian, GS SNEA, G.L.Dhar, Secretary, AITUC, P.Abhimanyu, GS BSNLEU, S.P.Sharma, GS, BSNLWRU, Giriaj Singh, GS R.III (NFPE), Suresh Kumar, GS BSNLMS, Vasisht, FNTO, R.K.Kohli, GS NFTBE, Hari Singh, BTU Shri Jain GM(Mtce)and many other leaders paid high tributes and homage to Com. OPG. A large number of workers and leaders were present. Salil Gupta, son and Sapnil, grandson of OPG were present and the latter addressed also.
At the end of the meeting all the participants stood in silence for two minutes and paid homage to the departed leader. From BSNLEU in addition to President and General Secretary, Coms. Swapan Chakroborty, AGS,R.S.Chauhan Organising Secretary, John Verghese, Organising Secretry and many other comrades participated.
The Pioneers of the P and T trade union movement were Babu Tarapada, Henry Barton and Dada Ghosh. The leaders who led the movement mainly just before independence and afterwards included comrades K.G.Bose, O.P.Gupta, N.J.Iyer, K.Adinarayana, Moni Bose and others who have all left us. Of course, senior leaders like Coms. Sisir Bhattacharjee and A.K.Bhattacharjee are still with us.
The P and T movement has a great history and past and also present. It is high time to completely assess the growth of the movement and get inspiration to move forward in the present period when attack after attacks are coming on the working class movement.