The indefinite strike of 48,000 workers and employees of the TSRTC (Telangana State Road Transport Corporation) is going on for the 11^th day today. The strike started on 05^th October, 2019, as per the call of the Joint Action Committee of the TSRTC. The Chief Minister of Telangana, K. Chandrasekara Rao, has dismissed all the 48,000 striking employees and workers and has stated that, there was no question of having talks with the striking employees, or taking them back for duty. Meanwhile, one worker has self-immolated himself and died yesterday. BSNLEU, Telangana circle union has conducted solidarity demonstrations, in support of the strike. BSNLEU condemns the dismissal of the employees and workers. It demands the immediate reinstatement of the dismissed workers and employees and demands that the strike should be brought to an end, through a negotiated settlement.

General Secretary, Com.P.Abhimanyu’s reply to the RSS’s mouth-piece.

In it’s July, 16, 2019 issue, Organiser, the mouth-piece of the RSS, has published an article, which has demanded that BSNL and MTNL should be privatised / shut down immediately. This article has exposed the true colour of the RSS, with regards to it’s attitude towards the Public Sector in general and BSNL & MTNL in particular. Com.P.Abhimanyu, General Secretary, has written an article, giving a fitting reply to the RSS’s mouth-piece. This article has been published in the “People’s Democracy” and also in the “NewsClick”. We reproduce the article herewith.

We have come to know that a poster has been designed and publicised that, the call for hunger strike to be held by the AUAB on 18.10.2019, has been called on by AIBDPA, AUAB and CCWF. It is hereby informed to all that, neither BSNLEU nor AUAB has any connection with this unauthorised poster. It is also informed that such posters, knowingly or unknowingly, weaken the unity of unions and associations of BSNL, which has been forged after much patience and hard work. Whomsoever has designed and publicised this poster, are requested to desist from doing such a damage hereafter.

All out efforts are being made, to unite all the unions and associations of BSNL, to solve the issue of salary payment on time, as well as the revival of the BSNL. Now we wish to inform that the BTEU BSNL and TOA BSNL have informed that they support the 18^th October, hunger strike.

In Kerala circle, continuous struggles are taking place, demanding immediate payment of the wages of the contract workers. It is a matter of serious concern that, payment of contract workers has not been done for the past 8 months. Strike, dharnas, demonstrations, etc., are going on continuously. Human chains are organised in Kannur, Malappuram and Pathanamthitta SSAs. A wider platform, supporting the strike has also been formed.

भारतीय टेलीकॉम एम्प्लॉईज यूनियन (BTEU BSNL) और टेलीकॉम ऑफिसर्स एसोसिएशन ऑफ BSNL (TOA BSNL) का AUAB के आव्हान पर 18.10.2019 को आयोजित भूख हड़ताल को समर्थन...
वेतन का भुगतान समय पर होता रहे और साथ ही BSNL का रिवाइवल भी हो, इस हेतु BSNL की सभी यूनियन्स और एसोसिएशन्स की एकता के लिए हर संभव कोशिशें की जा रही है। अब, हम आपको बताना चाहेंगे कि BTEU BSNL और TOA BSNL ने सूचित किया है कि वें भी 18.10.2019 की भूख हड़ताल का समर्थन करते हैं।

18.10.2019 की भूख हड़ताल का अनाधिकृत पोस्टर- BSNLEU और AUAB का दृष्टिकोण (stand)...
हमें ज्ञात हुआ है कि एक पोस्टर डिज़ाइन कर प्रसारित किया गया है, जिसके अनुसार 18.10.2019 की भूख हड़ताल का आव्हान AIBDPA, AUAB और CCWF द्वारा किया गया है। सभी को यह सूचित किया जाता है कि इस अनाधिकृत पोस्टर से किसी भी तौर पर न तो BSNLEU का संबंध है और न ही AUAB का। साथ ही, यह भी सूचित किया जाता है कि इस तरह के पोस्टर्स, जाने अनजाने , BSNL की यूनियन्स और एसोसिएशन्स की एकता को कमजोर करते हैं, जो बड़े ही संयम और परिश्रम से स्थापित हुई है। जिस किसी ने भी यह पोस्टर डिज़ाइन और प्रसारित किया है, उनसे निवेदन है कि वें इस तरह के क्षति पहुंचाने वाले कार्यों से दूर रहे।

Com.P.Abhimanyu, GS, met Shri Arvind Vadnerkar, Director (HR) today, and discussed about the issue of the harassment of 857 employees belonging to the scheduled category, who are being harassed by the Maharashtra circle administration, in the matter of validation of their caste certificates. The General Secretary firmly demanded that the caste certificates should be validated only through the district magistrate / district collector, as per DoP&T orders. Presently, the Maharashtra circle administration has taken the stand that the certificates should be validated through the Scrutiny Committees formed by the Maharashtra state government. The Director (HR) assured to look into the case. The case could not be discussed with the CMD BSNL today, since he is not in the Corporate Office.

The AUAB has issued notice for holding hunger strike at the Corporate Office, Circle and SSA levels on 18.10.2019. In this connection, Shri Arvind Vadnerkar, the Director (HR) has invited the AUAB for discussing the issues contained in the charter of demands. This meeting will take place at 10:00 am tomorrow the 17.10.2019. The General Secretaries of all the constituents of the AUAB will be attending this meeting.

A meeting was held between the AUAB and the BSNL Management at 10:00 am today. From the Management Side, Shri Arvind Vadnerkar, Director (HR), Shri Sheethla Prasad, Director (CM) and Shri A.M. Gupta, GM(SR), were present. From the AUAB side, General Secretary / Representative of BSNLEU, NFTE, SNEA, AIBSNLEA, FNTO, BSNLMS, SNATTA, ATM BSNL, BSNL OA and TOA BSNL, participated in the meeting. In the meeting, issues contained in the charter of demands of the AUAB, for the hunger strike to be held on 18-10-2019, were discussed. The Management Side informed that, the Cabinet is likely to take a decision on the revival package of BSNL around 23rd of this month. They also expressed the hope that, once BSNL’s revival package is cleared by the Cabinet, banks will come forward to extend credit to BSNL and that will create a favourable situation for BSNL’s revival. Representatives of the AUAB expressed their extreme unhappiness over the non-payment of September, 2019, salary. Further, they also raised the issues related to the improving the quality of service, curbing expenditure and increasing the revenue collection of the Company. They emphatically told that the letters issued by the Corporate Office for the retrenchment of contract workers, as well as non-payment of their wages, are adversely affecting the operation and maintenance works. The Management Side assured that September salary would be paid on 23.10.2019 and requested to withdraw the hunger strike. The AUAB representatives told that the salary should be paid at least by 21.10.2019. Meanwhile, it was informed that the CMD would be meeting the AUAB at 03:00 pm and hence the meeting came to an end.

AUAB और BSNL मैनेजमेंट के बीच मीटिंग....
AUAB और BSNL मैनेजमेंट के बीच आज 10.00 am पर मीटिंग सम्पन्न हुई। मैनेजमेंट की ओर से श्री अरविंद वडनेरकर, डायरेक्टर (HR), श्री शीतला प्रसाद, डायरेक्टर (CM) व श्री ए एम गुप्ता ,GM (HR) उपस्थित थे। AUAB की ओर से BSNLEU, NFTE, SNEA, AIBSNLEA, FNTO, BSNLMS, SNATTA, ATM BSNL, BSNL OA और TOA BSNL के जनरल सेक्रेटरीज/ प्रतिनिधि ने मीटिंग में शिरकत की। मीटिंग में   18-10-2019 की भूख हड़ताल हेतु दिए गए AUAB के मांग पत्र में शामिल मुद्दों पर चर्चा की गई। मैनेजमेंट पक्ष की ओर से सूचित किया गया कि कैबिनेट द्वारा BSNL के रिवाइवल पैकेज पर इस माह की 23 तारीख के आस पास निर्णय लिए जाने की संभावना है। उन्होंने यह भी विश्वास व्यक्त किया कि, एक बार ज्यों ही कैबिनेट द्वारा द्वारा BSNL का रिवाइवल पैकेज क्लियर कर दिया जाएगा, बैंक्स BSNL को क्रेडिट देने के लिए आगे आएंगे और इससे BSNL के रिवाइवल के लिए माकूल स्थिति निर्मित होगी। AUAB के प्रतिनिधियों ने सितंबर 2019 के वेतन का भुगतान न होने पर अत्यंत नाराजगी व्यक्त की। साथ ही, उन्होंने सेवा की गुणवत्ता में सुधार, खर्च में कटौती और कंपनी के राजस्व में वृद्धि से सम्बद्ध मुद्दे भी उठाए। उन्होंने स्पष्ट रूप से कहा कि कॉर्पोरेट ऑफिस द्वारा कॉन्ट्रैक्ट वर्कर्स की छंटनी हेतु जारी पत्र और साथ ही उनके वेजेस का भुगतान न करने की वजह से संचालन और संधारण (operation and  maintenance ) कार्य विपरीत रूप से प्रभावित हो रहे हैं। मैनेजमेंट पक्ष ने विश्वास दिलाया कि सितंबर 2019 के वेतन का भुगतान 23.10.2019 को कर दिया जाएगा और भूख हड़ताल वापस लेने का आग्रह किया। AUAB के प्रतिनिधियों ने कहा कि वेतन का भुगतान कम से कम 21.10.2019 तक कर दिया जाए। इसी बीच, यह बताया गया कि CMD 3.00 pm पर AUAB से मुलाकात करेंगे। अतः मीटिंग समाप्त की गई।

A meeting between the AUAB and the CMD BSNL was held at 03:00 pm today. The Director (HR) and Director (CM) were also present. The CMD BSNL assured that salary payment would be made by 23.10.2019. Further, he also informed that the Cabinet is likely to take a decision on BSNL’s revival package within a week. He appealed to the AUAB to defer the hunger strike scheduled to be held on 18.10.2019. After this meeting, the representatives of the AUAB, present in the meeting, decided to defer the hunger strike for the time being. It is also decided to hold the next meeting of the AUAB on 30.10.2019, for reviewing the situation and for taking appropriate decision regarding future course of action.

CMD BSNL से मीटिंग पश्चात AUAB का कल की भूख हड़ताल स्थगित (defer) करने का निर्णय..
AUAB और CMD BSNL के बीच आज 03:00 pm पर मीटिंग हुई। डायरेक्टर (HR) और डायरेक्टर (CM) भी उपस्थित थे। CMD BSNL ने आश्वासित किया कि वेतन का भुगतान 23.10.2019 तक कर दिया जाएगा। साथ ही उन्होंने बताया कि कि BSNL के रिवाइवल पैकेज पर कैबिनेट द्वारा निर्णय लिए जाने की संभावना है। उन्होंने AUAB से 18.10.2019 को होने वाली भूख हड़ताल स्थगित करने की अपील की। इस मीटिंग के पश्चात AUAB के प्रतिनिधियों ने भूख हड़ताल फिलहाल स्थगित करने का निर्णय लिया। स्थिति की समीक्षा करने और आगामी रणनीति तय करने हेतु उचित निर्णय लेने के लिए AUAB की आगामी मीटिंग  30.10.2019 को करने का भी निर्णय लिया गया। 

The AUAB is seriously taking up the issues of non-payment of wages to the contract workers for the past 8 months, as well as their large scale retrenchment. This is because due to the above mentioned problems, the maintenance of BSNL’s services at the field level are severely affected and thereby the Company’s revenue collections are also impacted. In yesterday’s meeting with the Director (HR) and the Director (CM), this issue was discussed seriously. It was demanded that the wage arrears of the contract workers should be paid without further delay and also the retrenchment of contract workers should be stopped. The Director (HR) told that despite severe financial crisis, the Corporate Office has released funds in October, 2019, as per the following details.

Kerala – Rs.6.75 crore, West Bengal – Rs.6.5 crore, Kolkata – Rs.14.5 crore and ETR – Rs.1 crore.

The representatives demanded that the Management should take steps to clear the wage arrears of all the circles. They also pleaded that the letters issued to retrench the contract workers should be reviewed.

The BJP and it’s leaders, including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are making a high pitched campaign about the removal of the Article 370 of the Constitution, in the ongoing election campaign for the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections. However, the Economic Times dated 18.10.2019, has reported that the people in interior Maharashtra wanted their long pending problems like water scarcity, poor infrastructure, money for agricultural produce, etc., to be solved. The peasants of Maharashtra are reported to have told the Economic Times that they wanted the government to spell out what it will do to get them the minimum price for their crops.

[Source: The Economic Times dated 18.10.2019]

India is ranked 102, out of the 117 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2019. It is a matter of shame that our neighbouring countries, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh are all placed above India, in the Global Hunger Index 2019.  In 2000, India was ranked 83 out of the 113 countries.

[Source: The Hindu dated 17.10.2019]

The Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, has thundered that the government is probing the predatory pricing of Amazon and Flipkart and that, appropriate action would be taken on violation if any. Piyush Goyal has added that, his ministry has received complaints from CAIT, a traders’ body. Well and good. However, when the Commerce Minister says that predatory pricing would not be allowed in the e-commerce segment, how is that predatory pricing was allowed in the telecom sector? Many private operators including Airtel, Idea and Vodafone had complained that Reliance Jio was practising predatory pricing. But, the Modi government did not listen to all these complaints. At the same time, the government unceremoniously sacked J.S. Deepak from the post of Secretary, Telecom, when he wrote letter to the TRAI, demanding action against the predatory pricing of Reliance Jio. How is that the government says that it would not allow predatory pricing in the e-commerce segment while allowing it in the telecom sector. Is this not a double standard of Modi government?

[Inputs from Economic Times dated 18.10.2019]

Following the decision of the Management to pay the salary on 23.10.2019, and also based on the appeal of the CMD BSNL and the Director (HR), the hunger strike scheduled on 18.10.2019, has been postponed. However, on the issue of BSNL’s revival and also on other important issues, it has been decided that the AUAB should hold it’s next meeting on 30.10.2019. Accordingly, the meeting of the AUAB will be held at 03:00 pm on 30.10.2019 at BSNL MS Office in Atul Grove Road.

Going back from it’s promise of providing unlimited free talks time, a few days back, Reliance Jio has announced that it will charge outgoing calls to the networks of other operators, at the rate of 6 paisa per minutes. This is nothing but the starting of a new trend, wherein tariffs are likely to be increased. Following this, once again Reliance Jio, has revised it’s tariff. This time, it has withdrawn it’s low value prepaid plan of Rs.19/- and Rs.52/-. Hereafter, the minimum prepaid plan will be Rs.98/- only. It is obvious that the Reliance Jio has started revising it’s tariffs, in one way or the other, to increase it’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).

The working class and the progressive forces have always been saying that, the attacks launched by the US imperialism, on the countries of the Middle East, viz., Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc., are done only with the aim of capturing the oil resources of the Middle East region. Now, the US President, Donald Trump, himself has accepted this fact. He has told in an event to mark the first all female space walk, “We have taken control of the oil in the Middle East – the oil that we are talking about, the oil that everybody was worried about.” Later on, when questioned about his remark about the oil in the Middle East, Trump declined to answer.

[Source: The Times of India dated 20.10.2019]