The 16th All India Conference of CITU, which started at Chennai on 23-01-2020, got successfully concluded today. Election of office-bearers took place unanimously. Com.K.Hemalata and Com. Tapan Sen are re-elected as President and General Secretary, respectively. BSNLEU conveys it's revolutionary greetings to the newly elected office-bearers.

BSNLEU Karnataka circle and CITU distributed food grain packets, along with one litre cooking oil, to 25 contract workers in CGM office Bangaluru. Com. H. V. Sudharshan, CS, BSNLEU, Com. Irfan Pasha, Organising Secretary (CHQ), Com. P. Girish, DS, CGM office, Com. Meenakshi Sundaram, General Secretary, CITU, Karnataka, Com. K. N Umesh, Secretary, CITU, Bengaluru and Com. Mahantesh, GS, BSNL Contract workers Union, were present in the programme.

After VRS in BSNL, the strength of the employees has greatly been reduced. In this situation, a thinking arises in the minds of our comrades, whether we can organise struggles hereafter. Today, the answer to this question has been given by Com. Ponugoti Swamy Rao, Telecom Technician, working at Narkatpally, in Nalgonda SSA, Telengana circle. He is the only employee working in this station. However, single handedly, he has carried out the call of BSNLEU today. Wearing the black badge, Com. Ponugoti Swamy Rao, single handedly conducted the protest demonstration, condemning Shri Anantkumar Hedge, MP. CHQ feels proud of Com. Ponugoti Swamy Rao and heartily congratulates him for his fighting spirit. 

CHQ is saddened to hear that Smt. Bhagawati Devi, aged 85, mother of Com. Ramesh Chand, Organising Secretary, CHQ, has passed away today. CHQ conveys it’s heartfelt condolences to Com. Ramesh Chand, Org. Secretary (CHQ) and to all his family members.

The circle executive committee meeting of Telecom Factory was held at Mumbai on 26.04.2018. Com.Naikwade, Circle President, presided over the meeting. Com. Sunil Chaudhary, Circle Secretary, welcomed everyone and placed the report on activities. Com.John Verghese, (AGS), addressed the meeting and spoke on important current issues, such as wage revision, Subsidiary Tower Company, revival of BSNL, etc. He also explained in detail on the decisions of the Agartala CEC meeting and about conducting street corner meetings and creating public awareness about the ill effects of creating subsidiary tower company and killing of PSU's by the present Government.

The All India BSNL Working Women’s Coordination Committee meeting is taking place at Bengaluru on 30.06.2018. A seminar is also been held in this connection. Com. Sudha Sundararaman, Vice President, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS, are addressing.

Big corporate houses enter into mega mergers, with a view to maximise their profits. But, it is a bitter truth that employees become victims due to these mergers. This is once again proved in the recent Vodafone Idea merger. Recently, telecom giants, Vodafone and Idea entered into a mega merger. Thus, the merged entity, viz., Vodafone Idea has become the biggest telecom service provider in the country. It is reported that 10 billion dollars would be gained due to the synergies to be achieved due to this merger. However, the merger is not good so far as the employees are concerned. Media reports say that, 2,500 employees have become surplus in Vodafone Idea. Their future is hanging fire now.

The AUAB of Madhya Pradesh organised a massive strike preparatory meeting at Bhopal today. Com.Habeeb Khan, CS, NFTE and Chairman,AUAB, MP circle, presided over. Com.Prakash Sharma, CS, BSNLEU and Convenor, AUAB, welcomed everyone. The meeting was addressed by Com.P.Abhimanyu, GS, BSNLEU & Convenor, AUAB, Com.Chandeswar Singh, GS, NFTE & Chairman, AUAB, Com.Dutta Majumdar, CS, SNEA, Com.Md.Parvesh Khan, CS, AIBSNLEA and  Com.Devendra Saini, CS, AIGETOA addressed the meeting. Within a very short notice, the AUAB of MP circle organised this excellent meeting. The response of the employees for the meeting was tremendous. AUAB heartily congratulates the AUAB of MP circle.

The CHQ has already directed all the circle unions to hold emergency Circle Executive Committee meetings, for planning and successfully organising the 3 day strike, called on by the AUAB. So far the following circle unions have issued notification for holding the emergency Circle Executive Committee meetings. The remaining circles are also requested to hold the emergency Circle Executive Committee meetings for planning to the make the 3 day strike successful.

(1) Tamil Nadu - 01.02.2019.         (7) Andhra Pradesh - 07 & 08-02-2019.

(2) Karnataka - 05.02.2019.           (8) Kerala - 07.02.2019.

(3) Kolkata  - 05.02.2019.               (9) Odisha - 11.02.2019.

(4) Telangana - 06.02.2019.            (10) Himachal Pradesh - 11.02.2019.

(5) Maharashtra - 06.02.2019.        (11) UP (East) - 10 & 11-02-2019.

(6) Madhya Pradesh - 06.02.2019.

A question was raised in the Lok Sabha yesterday, as to whether the BSNL was in the verge of closure. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of Communications has replied that there was no proposal of closure of BSNL. The government may not have the proposal to close down BSNL. But, if necessary short term and long team investment is not made by the government, on it’s own BSNL will be closed down. All the Executives and Non-Executives of BSNL have to understand this and act accordingly. The question and answer is enclosed.

The one day emergent Circle Working Committee meeting of BSNLEU, WB Circle was held on 2nd September at Kolkata. The CWC meeting was inaugurated by Com. Sisir Roy, Organizing Secretary, BSNLEU (CHQ). It was a meeting to review the preparation of the 8th Membership Verification in different districts. All the campaign materials like posters, books published by CHQ translated in Bengali, flex and voter slips were handed over to the district secretaries from hills of Darjeeling to Diamondharbour of South Bengal. The final round of campaign programmes were also finalized in the meeting. The district secretaries are now all set to make BSNLEU the only recognized union in BSNL with much more votes than before. It was also decided that we will fight against the anti-worker and anti-people policy of the Govt. The meeting was presided by Com. Banani Chattopadhyay, Circle President.

Marten Pieters, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone India, has said that for most foreign investors, it has been a bad dream to do business in India. One of the important reasons cited by Pieters, for this bad dream is the entry of “monied Reliance Jio”. Vodafone India ran into huge loss and has already merged itself with Idea. Now, informed sources say that, Vodafone will leave it’s India business, because of huge losses in terms of money and customers. It is important to note that, in his statement, the former CEO of Vodafone India has stated that the Indian Telecom Sector is in a bad shape, with debt of over Rs.7 lakh crore. An important reason for this situation is “a new player seemingly having access to infinite money”. This new player seemingly having access to infinite money is none other than Reliance Jio.

[Source: The Economic Times, 05.11.2019]

BSNLEU, Tamil Nadu circle and BSNL Contract Workers Union organised a massive dharna at Tamil Nadu circle CGM's office at Chennai today. Payment of the wage arrears, continuation of the present Labour Contract System, etc., are the demands. 1,200 contract workers and regular employees participated in this dharna from the various parts of the circle. Com.S.Chellappa, circle president, BSNLEU and Com. Palanisamy, AGS, BSNLCCWF, presided over. Com. Vinodh, Circle Secretary, BSNLCCWF, Tamil Nadu, welcomed all. Com. G.Sukumaran,General Secretary, CITU, Tamil Nadu state, inaugurated the dharna. Com.P.Abhimanyu, GS, BSNLEU, addressed the dharna in detail about the problems of the contract workers and steps being taken by BSNLEU and the BSNLCCWF to settle them. Com.Babu Radhakrishnan, CS, BSNLEU, and many others addressed.

1) Com. Anand Kumar Singh, AGS & DS, Azamgarh – Rs.5,000/-

2) Com.R.K. Mishra, CS – Rs.2,000/-

3) Com.K.R. Yadav, ACS – Rs.2,000/-

4) Com. Omkar Nath, ACS / DS, Lucknow – Rs.2,000/-

5) Com. Manju Prasad, Asstt. Treasurer / Member, BSNL WWCC – Rs.2,000/-

6) Com. H.S. Mishra, DS, Sultanpur – Rs.2,000/-

7) Com. Suresh Chandra Yadav, DS, Jaunpur – Rs.2,000/-  

8) Com. Nagendra Singh, DS, Mirzapur – Rs.2,000/-

9) Com. Tilak Raj Tiwari, DS, Faizapur – Rs.2,000/-

10) Com. Rama Shankar, DS, Allahabad – Rs.2,000/-

11) Com. D.N. Tripathi, DS / Circle President,Kanpur – Rs.2,000/-

12) Com. Subedar, DS, Basti – Rs.2,000/-

13) Com. Nitha Nand Mishra, DS, Gorakhpur – Rs.2,000/-

14) Com. Ram Gopal Mishra, DS, Barabanki – Rs.2,000/-

15) Com. Sudama Prasad Mishra, DS, Circle Office – Rs.1,000/-

16) Com. Raj Nandan Gupta, DS, Deoriya – Rs.1,000/-

17) Com. C.B. Shrivastava, DS, Banda – Rs.1,000/-

18) Com. R.P. Chaudhary, DS, Rae Barely – Rs.1,000/-

19) Com. Babu Lal, DS, Fatehpur – Rs.1,000/-

20) Com. D.R. Mishra, DS, Pratapgarh – Rs.1,000/-

21) Com. Chandrama Yadav, DS, Varanasi – Rs.1,000/-

22) Com. Mata Din Yadav, DS, Mau – Rs.1,000/-

23) Com. H.L. Maurya, ACS, UP(East) – Rs.1,000/-

24) Com. Yogendra Singh, DS, Gonda – Rs.1,000/-

25) Com. Y.P. Gupta, DS, Hardoi – Rs.1,000/-

26) Com. C.B. Singh, DS, Lakhimpur – Rs.1,000/-

27) Com. Ajay Kumar Maurya, Circle Org. Secretary – Rs.1,000/-

28) Com. Vipin Kumar Yadav, DS, Una – Rs.1,000/-

29) Com. Paramjeet Singh, DS, Bahraich – Rs.1,000/-

30) Com. Meera Shukla, ACS, UP(East) – Rs.1,000/-

BSNLEU has been insisting upon the Management to reconstitute the Standing Committee of the National Council. The issue was once again discussed with Shri A.M. Gupta, GM (SR), yesterday, by the representatives of BSNLEU, consisting of Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS, Com. Swapan Chakraborty, Dy.GS, Com. Animesh Mitra, Vice President and Com. M.K. Dave, AGS. During the discussion the GM (SR) agreed to conduct the meeting of the reconstituted Standing Committee in the 3^rd week of January, tentatively on 18.01.2018.

CHQ of BSNLEU heartily welcomes all the comrades who are coming over to Delhi, to participate in the March to Sanchar Bhawan, to be held tomorrow the 23.02.2018. According to the information received from various circles, more than 2,000 members of BSNLEU are participating in this historic rally, from the states nearby to Delhi, and also from far away circles. Accommodation has been arranged to the comrades coming from far away circles, and the place where the accommodation is arranged to each circle is updated on the website, and also communicated to the circle secretaries. All comrades who have come from outside, are requested to kindly take care of their personal belongings as well as their health. The climate in Delhi is very pleasant now. In case, any assistance is required, comrades are requested to feel free to call the General Secretary, Dy. General Secretary and Com. T.A. Biju, Office Secretary.

The executive committee meeting of Karnataka circle was held at Bengaluru on 30-04-2018. Com.M.C.Balakrishna, circle president, presided over the meeting. Com.C.K.Gundanna, circle secretary welcomed everyone. The report on activities, which included a midterm review, was also presented by him. Com.P.Abhimanyu,GS, addressed the meeting and reported on the decisions of the Agartala CEC meeting. The GS also spoke on the important current issues, viz., wage revision, Subsidiary Tower Company, Call Attention Day to be observed on 03-05-2018, Street Corner Meetings to be conducted from 07th to 11th May,2018, etc. Com.H.V.Sudharshan, Organising Secretary(CHQ) also addressed the meeting. After detailed deliberations by the Committee members, decisions were taken to implement the decisions of the Agartala CEC meeting.