Tag Archives: MTNL

Rejuvenation of BSNL, MTNL a must for the nation

30 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by in BSNL, General

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The last two- three decades have seen how the central government, whether BJP or Congress,  has tried to destroy BSNL and MTNL, the government telecom companies in favour of the private companies. In this process huge corruption by the concerned ministers and government has been exposed. As  a senior politician has stated, there is not a single Communications Minister who can be stated clean in this matter.

Each and every opportunity was utilised by the rulers to support and favour the private companies and discriminate the PSUs, BSNL and MTNL. While almost all other PSUs were formed within the first three decades after Independence with the objective of creating a base of for the infrastructure for development, MTNL and BSNL was formed to privatise the communication sector and hand over the same completely to the corporates. It was only through the Tough resistance from the workers and their unions, that the privatisation move of BSNL and MTNL by the government could not succeed. While government managed to disinvest and impose VRS through clever moves in MTNL, it could not succeed in BSNL due to the heroic  struggles by the united workforce.

The General Elections are due within a few months. A charter on the issues of BSNL and MTNL workers are to be prepared and presented to the political parties for their support. It need not be limited to the telecom PSUs only. All the 240 or so central PSUs are facing similar attack and the CPSTU can focus the same. The General Strike for 48 hours (2 days) on 8th and 9th January 2019 has focussed the issue in the Charter of Demands. It has to be propagated effectively amongst the workers and the people.

Along with defending the PSUs, it should also be the target to improve the services. While fighting for their own rights, the workers have the responsibility to provide better service to the people, the customers. Much have improved, but but much more is to be done.

The ‘Do and Die’ should not only be on the demands of the workers, but also on for the service to be provided to the people. IT IS NOT ONLY TO GET THE SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE, BUT IS PART OF THE DUTY OF THE WORKERS TO THE NATION.

Move to privatise MTNL, a warning to BSNL

13 Sunday May 2018

Posted by in BSNL, PSU

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The direction of the NITI Ayog to the government to privatise MTNL  is a warning to BSNL also. There are 29,000 employees in MTNL and about 1,75,000 employees and about one lakh contract workers  in BSNL.  What will happen if the PSUs are privatised? Not even half will be able to save their jobs.

It is not the time to mourn and sit idle. It is the time to act. Powerful agitations have to be organised with maximum propaganda amongst the people. Privatisation of these PSUs will increase the telephone / mobile bills of each and all at least 10 times of the present as per international rates. All those using mobile / telephone will suffer. It is the time to not only to organise the workers for action but to go to the people and get their help in avoiding a crisis. A big battle is ahead. ‘Do or Die’ is the slogan.

MTNL, BHEL on the privatisation list – Oppose and defeat the move.

13 Sunday May 2018

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The Modi government is on the route to entirely sell all the Public Sector Units, whether profitable or non-profitable. It is implementing its assurance to the corporate lobby for the lakhs of crores of rupees received by them in the election campaign. The next Parliamentary elections are coming and more funds are required. The best thing is to gift the PSUs to the corporates and get further huge donations from them.

The latest is the implementation of the directions of the NITI Ayog (or ANITI(Injustice) Ayog ) to sell the profitable BHEL, the loss making MTNL and a few other PSUs for garnering Rs. 29,647 crore. Some of these are Navaratna PSUs. NITI Ayog has earlier directed the government to sell Air India, the prime Indian air line.

MTNL is the PSU operating telecom services in the metro cities of Delhi and Mumbai, while all other places are served by BSNL. It is only due to the anti-PSU policy of the continued governments at the centre that MTNL has become loss making. Unlimited corruption by the top management is another reason for loss. The company owns land, building, quarters and equipment worth lakhs of crores of rupees in both Mumbai and Delhi. There are more than 25,000 workers whose future is in peril.

We demand that the government should withdraw from this anti-PSU and anti-national move. It is misuse of power to sell the property of the nation to a few corporates. Strong protest actions should be organised and the government move defeated.

Out of the three telecom PSUs, VSNL is already sold to TATA. MTNL is in the list for sale. Next will be BSNL. It is only because of BSNL and MTNL that the telecom services are most cheap in India. Once these are privatised, the call rates /charges will at least be increased ten times or more as is the case with many other countries. Privatisation is not a loss to the MTNL/BSNL subscribers alone, but will a great loss to the telephone /mobile subscribers all over the country whether they are subscribers of Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea etc.

The people as a whole should oppose and defeat the privatisation of the telecom PSUs, BSNL and MTNL.

DOT asks MTNL to reduce retirement age from 60 to 58

04 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by in Telecom

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I am giving below a press report in which it is stated that DOT has asked MTNL to reduce the retirement age from 60 to 58, in order to reduce the staff and to reduce the expenditure on VRS. The Modi government, it seems, is determined to finish the MTNL and put its employees on the road. If the experiment is successful, the next target will be BSNL. In this connection it is to be mentioned that the government has no moral right to reduce the retirement age, since the employees have been planning their retirement life with the preparation to retire at 60 years and any pre-retirement will put them in to much difficulties and even may destroy their future life. Strong protest should rise against this arbitrary decision.

Press report
“Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd’s plan to become leaner is unlikely to fructify any time soon as the department of telecommunications has told the state-owned telecom services provider to first bring down the retirement age for its employees to 58 from 60 before seeking any support to fund a planned voluntary retirement scheme, according to an official.

According to the official, the company had sought the department’s support to initiate a VRS for its employees to bring down its staff costs—currently almost neck-to-neck with its revenues. Reduction in the retirement age will automatically bring down the number of people eligible for VRS and hence save the government some cash.

Years of losses, abetted by a lethargic and huge manpower and slow decision-making, have pulled down the MTNL’s networth into negative. Its revenues have little chance of recovering given that the market has matured and at the same time remains competitive. The company’s last annual profit was in 2008-09. Its net loss in March quarter was Rs. 634.78 crores – the lowest among the losses in the four quarters of 2016-17.

MTNL had a staff strength of 28,877 as on December 31, 2016. Of this, 4,027 were executives and 24,850 were non-executives.

At the end of last calendar year, the company had a total of 7.10 million subscribers. Of this, 3.63 million were mobile subscribers while 3.48 million were landline connections.”

27 Central PSUs under Strategic Sale Radar.

03 Monday Oct 2016

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On the basis of the Niti Ayog recommendations, the Department of Investment and Public Assess Management (DIPAM – the new name for the former Department of Disinvestment) is moving for the strategic sale of 27 central PSUs. The names come out include Container Corporation of India, Bharat Earthmovers Ltd, Certification Engineers International Ltd., Hindustan Newspapers Ltd., Scooters India Ltd., Air India etc. BSNL and MTNL were reported to be in the list, but immediately Niti Ayog issued a denial. It is clear that the denial was only to hoodwink the workers in these two PSUs and take them by surprise later to avoid agitation.

The Central Trade Unions have to focus these issues in a massive and prepare the workers for a serious fight. The Forum of BSNL Unions and Associations as also the Forum of BSNL/MTNL Unions / Associations should start preparations for a serious sustained struggle to defeat the ill-conceived moves of the NDA government.

Bajpai Government sold VSNL to Tata. Are the BSNL and MTNL unions and workers going to allow strategic sale of BSNL and MTNL being planned by the Modi Government?

The answer is a big NO.  BSNL Workers defeated the decisions of the government to disinvest and impose VRS/CRS. They will defeat the move for strategic sale also.

Spectrum Auction to get at least Rs.5.6 lakh crore

01 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by in BSNL, General

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The auction for spectrum proposed today is expected to get at least Rs. 5.6 lakh crore for the Government. It may be more also.

We demand that the government should allot at least Rs. 10,000 crore to BSNL and a similar amount to MTNL for modernisation and purchase of equipment.  The BSNL and MTNL Managements as also the unions and associations should take up the issue with the government. It is the duty of the government to assist these  two telecom PSUs to pass over the present financial crisis and restore its past glory. Simply issuing statements that Government will assist BSNL / MTNL is not sufficient. Action should follow assurances.

DEFEAT GOVT. MOVE FOR STRATEGIC SALE OF BSNL AND MTNL !

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by in BSNL, Disinvestment, Forum, SAVE BSNL CAMPAIGN, Telecom TU Movement 1991-2015

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BSNL has always been a target of both the UPA and NDA governments to be attacked and finished. BSNL was formed as a PSU with the intention of privatising after some time. As all know, telecom sector with its huge profit, has always been a paradise for the corporates, Indian and foreign. BSNL stands as a challenge to these corporates for minting unlimited profits. The government company had to be either killed or gradually privatised through disinvestment. In order to achieve this, BSNL has to be discredited, made loss making so that there will be on reaction from the public. The continuous growth of BSNL for the first five years was a shock to the government as well as the corporates. The move of the government to reduce the number of employees through VRS was defeated by the complete strike and sustained struggles of the workers who stood together like a rock. Move to disinvest was also defeated in the same way.

It is at this time that the government intervened and cut the entire equipment procure programme of BSNL, not once but thrice. It was just like sending an army in the forward area without arms and ammunition. Only through a magnificient strike, the damage could be lessened, which at least allowed the company to move slowly forward.

The posting of loss for the last four years encouraged the government to bring their long pending agenda of privatisation to the forefront. The proposal of NITI Ayog for strategic sale of BSNL and MTNL is nothing but handing over the companies to the corporates for garnering huge profits and grab the lakhs of acres of land in the centre of towns. People know how Maruti, the country’s prestigious company, was transferred to Japan’s Suzuki. People know how VSNL, another telecom company was handed over to Tata for a pittance.

The NITI Ayog’s present recommendation is a jerk action, seeing that BSNL is being revived after the joint efforts of the management and the workers under the leadership of Forum of BSNL Unions/ Associations. ‘Customer Delight Year’, ‘Service With A Smile’, ‘Free Night Call’ and such other programmes have improved both service and the financial position. There is an operational profit of about Rs. 2,000 crore this year and there may be real profit from next year. In such a situation, the government will not be able to implement its sinister schemes. Hence the government’s urgency to move with lightning speed for strategic sale.

The workers of BSNL will never allow a VSNL in BSNL. BSNL is their bread and butter. More than that, it is the pride and glory of the country, which served them dedicatedly and sincerely for the last one and half century with out fail. The telecom workers have a glorious past of fighting against wrong polices of the government. They will march ahead in this struggle path with maximum unity and determination.

We call upon all the Unions and Associations in BSNL to close their ranks immediately and come together under the Forum of BSNL Unions and Association to fight and defeat the sinister move of the government to kill BSNL and MTNL. The internal and other differences have to be kept aside at this crucial juncture. It is just like a national emergency for the BSNL and MTNL employees.

Remember how the private management of VSNL, ITDC Hotels, BALCO etc. after privatisation, retrenched the women workers, SC/ST employees and then more than half of the employees on one pretext or other, pushing them to the crowd of the crores of unemployed in the country. Some of them even committed suicide without finding themselves unable to maintain their families. All the assurances were broken and the workers were thrown to the steets.

Do we in BSNL want such a situation? NO! We will fight and defeat the  ugly monsters who wants us to be thrown to the streets. Let each and every worker come under the mighty Forum to save BSNL and save their own future!

UNITY FOR STRUGGLE !

STRUGGLE FOR UNITY !

UNITY AND STRUGGLE TO DEFEND BSNL AND OUR EXISTENCE !

 

 

Another VRS in MTNL

01 Sunday May 2016

Posted by in General, PSU

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It is reported that the government is proposing another VRS for employees of the MTNL. About 5,300 of the existing 46,000 employees are proposed to be given the VRS, who are about 20% of the staff who are aged 50 and above. This the 4th VRS being implemented in MTNL.

The government is also proposing to sell the assets of MTNL in Delhi and Mumbai.

The reaction of the unions/associations has not been mentioned. We are in touch with them.

BSNL Debt Rs. 7,666 crore, MTNL Debt Rs. 13,530 crore

10 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in BSNL News, PSU, Telecom

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The Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed Lok Sabha today, 10th March 2016, that BSNL has a debt of Rs. 7,666 crore and for MTNL a debt of Rs. 13,530 crore. He also mentioned that these debts have arisen due to the purchase of spectrum. BSNL was compelled to pay Rs. 18,500 crore for spectrum, both BWA and 3G Spectrum and MTNL Rs. 11,097 for the same spectrum. BSNL has returned the BWA spectrum, but the amount of more than Rs.6,600 crore is yet to be paid back by government. For purchasing the spectrum the PSUs took the above loans.

What the government should do is to refund the charges for spectrum which has been returned already by BSNL  as also Rs. 1,250 crore from USOF which is pending payment for more than two years.

United Forum of MTNL Unions/Associations organise rally

08 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by in PSU, Telecom

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Thousands of MTNL employees joined the demonstration programme at the MTNL C.O. premises in Eastern Court protesting against the delay in settling 78.2% IDA fixation, option for pro-rata pension, implementation of CGHS service etc. Com. Mange Ram Sharma, Chairman of the United Forum of MTNL Unions/Associations presided and Com. M.K.Bagchi, Convener welcomed all. The leaders of the Unions and Associations addressed.

Com. V.A.N.Namboodiri, former Convener of the BSNL/MTNL Joint Forum of Unions/Associations addressed the rally, spoke about the united action of the workers  and supported the struggle. He reminded about the workers about the united struggles organised by the United Forum earlier, including the Parliament March and strike. He fully supported the struggle of the MTNL workers. He also spoke about the need to improve the services.