(Continued from earlier post)
Functioning of CHQ
The new leadership of All India Telecom Employees Union Class III (E.III Union) started work in right earnest with V.A.N.Namboodiri, President and Moni Bose, General Secretary staying at Dada Ghosh Bhawan, head quarters of the union. The “Telecom” (monthly) and ” Correspondence” (Weekly) were issued in time with not only the issues of the telecom workers, but with articles on the issues of the working class in general to educate the workers. The editorial in the first issue after Bhopal Conference was about the October Revolution in Russia, which inspired an entire generation of workers all over the world. Coms. Atma Ram and Raghubir Singh, employees of the union continued, but it was felt that they could be more helpful.
In the morning, Moni and Namboodiri will work at HQ and in the after-noon, they will go to Sanchar Bhawan, HQ of DOT to discuss the problems of the workers. All the pending issues were being taken up in a systematic way. The condition of the old car handed over by O.P.Gupta, former General Secretary, was pitiful as almost every day, it will have some break down on the way. Hence the car was in the garage only. We used to go to Sanchar Bhawan, either in bus or auto. The Metro Service has not started and it was very difficult to get auto and going by bus with more than double the passengers was almost an impossible task. However, there was no other way.
During these journeys to DOT and discussions, Moni was firm that Namboodiri should also accompany him. After the work at Sanchar Bhawan, both will go to the residence of Com. Neelotpal Basu, M.P., son-in-law of Moni Bose, in V.P.House and take tea/tiffin or sometimes dinner itself. His daughter, Susmitha Bose was employed in Delhi. It will always be 09.00 to 10.00 PM by the time we reaches back to DGB, somehow managing to get an auto or bus.
Within days, Com. Jyotsna Bose, wife of Moni Bose, also came to Delhi from Calcutta. She was a Telephone operator and was a leader of the union and had retired by that time. She used to prepare very tasty food for both of us.
I stayed in a room, which had no ventilation at all, but there was no other alternative. Though I have stayed at CHQ two- three times for one or two months earlier as Assistant General Secretary of the union, it was only after the Bhopal AIC that I started staying at CHQ continuously. When I was AGS, O.P.Gupta, GS never asked me to come to CHQ. I used to come on my own. But when I came, he entrusted me a lot of work and worked in-cordination. Those visits and stay at CHQ helped at present in attending to the day to day work. (To be continued)