Planning Commission Vice- Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has opened his mouth at last. With regard to the challenge of social activist Aruna Roy that whether Ahluwalia can live on Rs. 32 a day, he confesses that he can’t. But he is not for change to increase the poverty line. Adamantly he sticks to Rs. 32. Nothing more than that can be expected from a person who is aggressively trying implement the neo-liberalisation policy of the IMF-World Bank. He will not be worried if Ambanis or Mittals get Rs. 50 or hundred crore salary in a year. But he will certainly be worried if the poverty is reduced, since it is only through exploitation of the poor that the rich can become richer. Ahluwalia represents the elite class who benefits maximum from the poverty in the country.

The proposal of the BSNL management to outsource the 70,000 and odd towers and the 6.25 lakh route km of optical fibre in the name of adding revenue and to bring down cost to the company is based on wrong and false premises and is not acceptable.
The proposal as reported in the press is that BSNL will entrust private players to manage, operate and maintain the above infrastructure viz. towers and optical fibre, across the country. The private partners will be allowed to rent out capacity to other players. The CMD is reported to have stated that this is one of the new revenue streams for BSNL going forward.
I am surprised that such a big and important decision with regard to the policy of the company has not been discussed with the recognised union or the JAC, which are wholeheartedly working to improve the service and enhance the financial viability of the company. Earlier such arbitrary decisions of the BSNL management to cancel the GSM tenders, recommend VRS and disinvestment etc. have been opposed by the workers and the management was compelled to retract from the wrong direction. A management which wants the support of the workers should have the courtsey to discuss such issues with the recognised union and the representatives of the workers like JAC. This is much more important when the workers themselves are on a programme of action to improve the services through the ‘Customer Delight Year 2011-12’.
These thousands of towers and lakhs of routes km of optical cables have been purchased and installed / laid with years of continuous hard work and spending thousands of crore of Rupees. Leasing over all these infrastructure to private players for getting some meagre revenue is not a favourable plan for BSNL. The private players will grab the maximum profits and only a very small portion will be for the company, of course with one slot.
And the experience of the government has been that once property or infrastructure is leased, in 99% cases, it is a permanent leasing and the owner will not be able to get it back at all. For getting some temporary relief, that too at the mercy of a private player. is a trap from which the company will never be able to escape. Instead of leasing, it is the responsiblity of the company to utilise all these infrastructures by managing, operating and maintaining the same by the company itself.
When the company has sufficient staff, both executives and Non-Executives, instead of retrenching them through VRS they should be utilised for these purposes and drop the proposals of leasing them out.
The Unions should strongly protest and defeat the present proposal which will only benefit the private companies.

The Joint Action Committee of BSNL Associations / Unions of Executives and Non-Executives in its meeting today, 4th October 2011 decided to defer the 10th October strike to the first fortnight of November in order to achieve wider unity for the struggle. JAC will approach NFTE and FNTO to have a united struggle on the issues already given notice of. It was felt that maximum unity is required for the struggle.
(The details of the JAC meeting will be put in the websites of the Unions/Associations).
This is a good decision. At this time of crisis it is necessary that the entire workforce is united to defend and protect the interests of the workers and the company. We will make all out efforts for the same so that we shall win. My request to all workers and leaders is that it is the need of the hour to join together and fight for our survival.

The 24 hours working department of the Government of India, Department of Disinvestment, is now proposing to disinvest Defence PSUs also, which are of high security concerns. It has now proposed 10% disinvestment for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), one of the biggest aeronautical companies of the East. It is a Navaratna Company and manufacturing planes and fighters for the defence of the country.
The Government is also proposing to further disinvestment 5% in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd(BHEL) ,another defence PSU, where 25.28% has already been diluted. The Bharath Earth Movers Ltd(BEML) also face the same situation.
Earlier, these defence connected PSUs were not touched. Now the Government wants to disinvest and sell those also. The agreement between USA and India on defence purchases are increasing every day. Instead of depending on foreign purchase, the Government has to try to manufacture more and more from the PSUs and the Indian companies. But on the contrary the government is trying to kill our own PSUs.The workers of these PSUs are on struggle path. We should give solidarity and support to these justified struggles.

Whether Taj Mahal, the most beautiful building and one of the seven wonders of the world, is in danger? It seems so.
This wonder, built by Mughal Emperor Shajahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal in the 17th century is still the most sought after tourist spot in India. It was built during 1631 to 1653, 22 years of continued labour of more than 20,000 skilled and unskilled workers. The main architect was Isa Khan from Iran.After Shajahan died he was buried there.
I visited Taj Mahal for the first time in 1964. It was an experience with the white marble shining in the banks of the water filled Yamuna river. It was morning and was very pleasant also.
A few months back, I had gone again there. It was noon and I felt very hot. But there were other differences. It seemed to me that the white marble has lost its colour. There was very less water in the river. And the water seemed to be polluted. Any way a lot of difference in the atmosphere itself. But the beauty is the same.
Environmentalists, nature lovers and archeologists were pointing out that the chemical remission from the factories nearby and Mathura Oil Refinery are polluting the building and hence the colour change. They warn that this will cause danger to the building. Now a report says that the base of the building is in danger due to the low level of the water in the Yamuna as well as polluted water. It is stated that the base is constructrd by ebony planks and it requires water to ensure they continue to be strong and firm. But now the water is below this ebony planks which results in drying or shrinking of these wooden planks. And it may endanger the structure.
Indian government is not that much interested in maintaining the historical monuments. We need not cite many examples. But the Government can not be a silent spectator to the real danger to the Taj Mahal. It can not leave this matter to Archeological department alone. It has to examine the issue scientifically and expertly and take immediate necessary action to ensure the saftey of Taj Mahal.

A very interesting report has been published in today’s ( 3rd October ) Economic Times. The officers who have retired from the IMF and World Bank are getting choice posts, especially in the Ministry of Finance.
It is well known about the close connections the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Planning Commission Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwaliah and Minister P.Chidambaram have with the IMF /World Bank. Now it has come out that the IMF/World Bank retirees are getting important posts in the government. The newly posted Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pulok Chatterjee is a World Bank retiree. The present Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V.Reddy is IMF retiree. Former Defence Secretary and present Chairman, Competition Commission is World Bank retiree as also Bimal Jain who was Chairman, EAC to PM and then Member Planning Commission. Vijay Kelkar who worked as Finance Secretary and then as Advisor to Finance Minister is an IMF retiree. There are many more names.
What does it mean? Whether the IMF /WB is infiltrating our government? What will be the financial policy of the government with all these IMF and World Bank Rerirees? Within a few years almost all the important posts may be filled up with the IMF/World Bank retirees. Is IMF /WB posting a training to change the entire financial policy of the government to suit with the IMF/World Bank requirements?
Only time will tell. But in the mean time, these postings are going on.

A big propaganda is going rounds that it is better to take the VRS and the connected benefits and leave the company before it is down. The vested interests are making all efforts for maximum publicity for this to influence the workers to take VRS. They propagate the benefits of the VRS.
What are the actual facts? It is something else. If you take VRS you may get some amount on ex-gratia and also the usual pensionary benefits. Compare this with what one will get if he/she retires on superannuation.
If the official is having 50 years of age if he/she takes VRS as per the caculation made by the management he /she will get the ex-gratia. But if he/she continues in service for 10 years more, he/she will get atleast one more promotion, sometimes two. There will be another wage revision. Ten more increments he/she will get. And according to all these, the pension will be calculated. The difference between pension when you take VRS and when you retire on superannuation will be much more.
Women workers are more pressuriesd to take VRS. What happens in their cases? As long she is employed she gets more respect in the house and the society. She has her own income and need not depend upon any body. But once she takes VRS and is not having the job, there is no need for me to tell the difference.
And the last question is if VRS is better then why any body should work at all?
VRS is a trap. It is poison covered by sugar. Repenting later will not do any good to the company or the worker.
Our task is to work better, make the management and government compel to take policy decisions and implementation to the benfit of the people and the company. And we also have to change our mindset and ensure better performance. There is no doubt that the company will improve. How the Steel Authority of India improved after going on loss? How many PSUs have become profitable after sustaing losses? We need not be pessimistinc and take the drastic action to opt for VRS. Think again and take the correct and wise decision for your future and that of the company.

Reports are being received from many places about the observation of the International Action Day called by the World Federation of Trade Unions(WFTU).For the first time a call from the WFTU has been observed on a vast scale in India. The issues raised in the Action Day are fully related to the Indian Conditions also and it has attracted the attention of the workers. The demands have already been mentioned in the earlier write ups.
In New Delhi it was observed by holding a convention at Rajendra Bhawan, near ITO. It was orgnaised under the Left trade unions AITUC, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC,AICCTU and UTUC. A good number of trade union leaders and workers participated. Leaders of all the above trade unions addressed including Com. A.K.Padmanabhan (President CITU) and Com. H.Mahadevan (AITUC) and focussed on the importance of the demands and the necessity of stronger ties between the WFTU affiliates.
There are unions from 103 countries affiliated to the WFTU and it is expected that the International Day might have been organised in all these countries. If that is so, WFTU is coming back to its past glory. It is a good sign for the working class.

It is reported that BSNL management is proposing to outsource its towers, optical fibre cables etc. to private players to improve its revenue streams, as per the CMD. This is the consequence of VRS proposal. Once the VRS proposal is cleared and if many opt for VRS, there will be lack of staff to man all these works. Hence it is to be outsourced. Reduce the staff, reduce the work and again reduce the staff. The management want the major chunk of workers to be retrenched and start outsourcing and also engaging contract workers by exploiting them ruthlessley as is being done now.
Another main point is that all these proposals are not even discussed with the unions/associations who have got a big stake in the future of the company. Wrong policy decisions are taken by the government, it is mismanaged by the top management and the workers and the people suffer. This has to be put an end to.

Every benefit should be for the big business and corporates – that seems to be the motto of the UPA Government. After New Telecom Policy, which is to benefit the private telcos, the Central Government is finalising another new policy, The New Manufacturing Policy (NMP). What is the centre point? the main point is to curtail the labour rights of the workers. The Govenment wants that Labour officers need not be there to check whether the laws are being implemented by the employers in the National Manufacturing zones. Acording to Govt. it can be entrusted to an authority in the Zone itself, meaning that there will be no enforcement of labour law.
The labour ministry has objected to it. But the Prime Minister knows how to overcome the objetion of the Labour Minister. A GoM is nominated with Sharad Pawar as the Chairman. And the result is well known to all.
Unless there is strong protest and action on the part of the Central Trade Unions, a good portion of the workers will have no labour safeguards in India.