Election campaign meeting was held on 04th September,2019, in CGMT office Bhopal in the recreation club hall named after late Com. S.R Nayak. The meeting started after paying tributes to Com. Nayak.Com. M.K Ahuja, District President presided over the meeting. Com. P.K Tawar District Secretary welcomed the all. Com. Balbir Singh,  Vice President (CHQ), while addressing the meeting elaborately explained the present financial crisis of BSNL, VRS, age reduction, on going debate in the media, 4-G spectrum for BSNL and the struggles conducted by BSNLEU for the settlement of staff issues and revival of BSNL. He called upon the workers to vote for BSNLEU enmesse. Com. Prakash Sharma, CS & AGS, also addressed the meeting. Veteran trade union leader Com. H.S Thakur gave vote of thanks.

छोटे स्तर के कर्मचारियों के लिए VRS लाभप्रद नही है.

प्रबंधन और उनके कुछ एजेंट्स यह प्रचारित कर रहे हैं कि VRS बेहद आकर्षक है। किन्तु यह छोटे स्तर के कर्मचारियों के लिए लाभप्रद नही है। सही कहा जाए तो, छोटे स्तर के कर्मचारी जैसे टेलीकॉम टेक्नीशियन्स यदि VRS पर जाते हैं तो उन्हें अत्यधिक नुकसान होगा।

जिस टेलीकॉम टेक्नीशियन की बेसिक पे रु 21,730 है और जिनकी अभी 3 वर्ष 4 माह की सर्विस शेष है, उनका विवरण निम्नानुसार है।

वेतन का नुकसान

यदि ये टेलीकॉम टेक्नीशियन VRS पर जाते हैं तो उनको रु 16,42,800 एक्सग्रेशिया के रूप में प्राप्त होंगे।

वें यदि अपनी शेष सर्विस 60 वर्ष तक जारी रखते हैं तो उन्हें  शेष  सर्विस अवधि के लिए बेसिक पे + DA के रूप में रु 21,90,400 प्राप्त होंगे। इसका मतलब, VRS लेने पर उन्हें केवल पे+DA के रूप में ही रु 5,47,600 का नुकसान होगा।

इसके अलावा, एक्सग्रेशिया की राशि रु 16,42,800 के लिए उनका इनकम टैक्स भी कटेगा। साथ ही, सोसाइटी लोन, बैंक लोन और अन्य सभी प्रकार के लोन जैसे हाउस बिल्डिंग आदि की भी कटौती होगी। अंततः, एक्सग्रेशिया की बेहद कम राशि कर्मचारी को प्राप्त होगी।

उपर्युक्त के अलावा, उन्हें, 'C' क्लास शहर में पोस्टिंग होने के बावजूद जहां 10% HRA की पात्रता है, रु 2,173/- का प्रत्येक माह HRA का भी नुकसान होगा। यानी, 3 वर्ष और 4 माह में  रु 86,920/-  की कुल हानि होगी।

साथ ही, सुपरएन्युएशन की दिनांक तक सेवा में रहने पर उन्हें 3 इन्क्रीमेंट भी मिलेंगे। इन 3 इन्क्रीमेंट की वजह से 60 वर्ष की उम्र में रिटायर होने की वजह से ज्यादा पेंशन प्राप्त होगी।

पेंशन का नुकसान

यदि उपर्युक्त कर्मचारी VRS पर जाता है तो उन्हें रु 10,865 पेंशन प्राप्त होगी।

यदि वो अपनी सर्विस जारी रखते हैं और 3 वर्ष 4 माह पश्चात 60 वर्ष की आयु में रिटायर होते हैं तो उन्हें
रु 11,885 पेंशन प्राप्त होगी (3 इन्क्रीमेंट जोड़ कर)।

अतः, केवल मूल पेंशन में ही कर्मचारी को रु 1,020 प्रति माह का नुकसान होगा। इसके अलावा, बेसिक पेंशन पर उन्हें देय DA का भी प्रति माह नुकसान होगा। आज के DA के रेट 152% अनुसार यह नुकसान रु 1,550 होगा। इस प्रकार, कुल मिला कर पेंशन में रु 2,570 का नुकसान प्रतिमाह होगा। यह पेंशन में एक बड़ा नुकसान होगा, उनके जीवित रहने तक। इसके अतिरिक्त कर्मचारी का ग्रेच्यूईटी और कम्युटेशन में भी नुकसान होगा।

कर्मचारियों में भय निर्मित करने के लिए कई प्रकार की अफवाहें भी फैलाई जा रही है, जिससे कि बड़ी संख्या में कर्मचारी VRS ऑप्ट करें। प्रसारित की जारी विभिन्न अफवाहों /असमंजस (confusions) का जवाब निम्नानुसार है।

58 वर्ष

कैबिनेट द्वारा रिटायरमेंट की आयु घटा कर 58 वर्ष कर दी गई है, इस अफवाह की वजह से बड़ी संख्या में कर्मचारी VRS पर जा रहे हैं। यह पूर्णतः गलत सूचना है। यदि कैबिनेट द्वारा रिटायरमेंट की आयु घटा कर 58 वर्ष करने का निर्णय ले लिया गया है तो उसकी घोषणा अभी तक खुले तौर क्यों नही की गई है ?

यह सत्य है कि इस तरह का, रिटायरमेंट की आयु 58 वर्ष किए जाने का, कोई भी निर्णय कैबिनेट द्वारा नही लिया गया है।

कुछ षड्यंत्रकारी तत्वों द्वारा कर्मचारियों में भय निर्मित कर उन्हें VRS पर जाने हेतु बाध्य करने के उद्देश्य से यह अफवाह प्रसारित की जा रही है।

33 वर्ष की सर्विस पश्चात छंटनी

बड़े पैमाने पर यह अफवाह भी फैलाई जा रही है कि ऐसे कर्मचारी जिनकी 33 वर्ष की सर्विस पूर्ण हो गई हों या 60 वर्ष की आयु, जो भी पहले हो, केंद्र सरकार छंटनी करने जा रही है। यह भी पूर्ण रूप से झूठी खबर है। दिनांक 24.09.2019 के टाइम्स ऑफ इंडिया में यह स्पष्ट किया जा चुका है कि सरकार के पास ऐसा कोई प्रस्ताव नही है।

Bharti Airtel has reported a consolidated net loss of Rs.1,035 crore in the 3rd quarter, i.e., October – December quarter of the current financial year. It is important to note that this is the 3rd consecutive quarter, wherein Airtel is reporting loss. It is also important to note that recently Airtel has raised it’s tariffs upto 45%.

The United States has become the worst victim of COVID-19, with 16,697 deaths and 4,68,895 affected persons so far. The mismanagement of the Donald Trump Administration is citied to be the reason behind this debacle. When developing countries like India has imposed an early lock-down to curb the COVID-19, the US government has totally bungled this matter, with very belated imposition of the lock-down. The US economy has been shattered with 1.7 crore job loss. To conceal his mismanagement, Donald Trump is trying to divert the attention of the people. First, he attacked China for belatedly revealing the details of COVID-19. Now, he has accused the World Health Organisation (WHO) of helping China, after getting huge financial assistance from the United States.  The Director General of the WHO has openly told Donald Trump not to play politics with the Corona Virus.

The Central Secretariat meeting of BSNLEU, which consists of all the Central Office Bearers, was held enthusiastically today. All the 25 Central Office Bearers participated in the meeting. Com.Animesh Mitra, President, presided over the meeting. All the participants stood in silence for a minute and paid homage to the comrades who passed away after the Vadodara CEC meeting, as well as the migrant workers who lost their lives on the way to their home states, after the lock-down was implemented. Com.P.Abhimanyu, General Secretary, presented the note for discussion. All the Central Secretariat member participated in the deliberations. They appreciated the effective functioning of the CHQ, during the lock-period. All of them expressed their serious concern over the unbearable delay in the government's taking actions for BSNL’s revival, including the rolling out of BSNL’s 4G service. The meeting expressed it’s strong resentment over the insensitivity of the BSNL Management, in settling the issues of the employees. The meeting appreciated the Central Trade Unions for building resistance movements against to the anti-worker and anti-people policies of the Modi government and resolved to fully participate in all the programmes, including the nationwide protest demonstrations on 03^rd July, 2020.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the dynamic cricketer who took Indian cricket team to new heights, has announced his retirement from International Cricket. Under the stewardship of this "captain cool", India has won two World Cups. M.S. Dhoni’s retirement is unavoidable, since he is aged 39 now. However, the manner in which this great player retired without any send off, is greatly disappointing. 

M.S. Dhoni played last in the World Cup semifinal match, held in July, 2019. Thereafter, M.S. Dhoni was sidelined. He was not given any chance to play thereafter. What is the reason? 

Around July, 2019, the campaign for the Jharkhand State Assembly Election started getting heated up. The BJP, that was ruling the state had become unpopular and did not have any hope to win the election. Hence, BJP wanted to rope in MS Dhoni, “the son of the soil” of Jharkhand, to win the election. They tried in many ways to pursuade M.S. Dhoni to campaign in favour of BJP in the Jharkhand election.

The Deccan Chronicle dated 07.07.2019 reported that, the BJP President, Amit Shah, together with Minister, Piyush Goyal, BJP’s National General Secretary, Saroj Pandey and BJP’s Delhi President, Manoj Tiwari, met M.S. Dhoni at his residence. It was obviously to convince M.S. Dhoni to campaign for BJP in the Jharkhand election.

In October, 2019, Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, was appointed as the Secretary of the BCCI. Even thereafter, M.S. Dhoni did not agree to use his hard-won reputation in the cricket world, to be exploited by the BJP, to win the Jharkhand assembly election. Ultimately, BJP lost the election and was thrown out of power.

This is the reason why the greatest Captain of Indian cricket, M.S. Dhoni has been ignored and is not given a deserving send-off. However, the Indian people will remain ever grateful to this great player and captain, for electrifying the Indian Cricket team.

A meeting of the Designations Committee was held on 26.09.2017, wherein agreement was reached between the Management and the Staff Side, with regards to the new designations of the left out Non-Executive cadres. However, when the draft minutes of the meeting was released, a clause was inserted in that, by the Management Side, stating that duties and responsibilities of the Non-Executives would change, due to change in designations. This was objected to by Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS and he declined to sign the draft minutes. Citing this as a reason, the Management Side has not released the minutes so far. BSNLEU has given a complaint to the Director (HR) that the Management Side was involved in an unethical practice of manipulating the minutes, and was inserting issues which were actually not discussed in the meeting and also not accepted to by the Staff Side. However, so far no action has been taken on this issue and the final minutes of the meeting was not yet released. As a result of this, the Change of Designations agreed to in the meeting held on 26.09.2017, are yet to be implemented. Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS, Com. Swapan Chakraborty, Dy.GS and Com. Animesh Mitra, Vice President (CHQ), met Shri Ashutosh Gupta, GM (Restg.), yesterday, and expressed the extreme unhappiness of BSNLEU on the undue delay in releasing the “corrected” minutes of the meeting. The GM (Restg.) fully agreed with the Union representatives and assured that needful action would be taken to release the “corrected” minutes within a week’s time.

The International Women’s Day falls on 08^th March, 2018. The CHQ calls upon the circle and district unions to observe the Day, by organising special meetings on that day. These meetings should be utilised to create awareness for fighting against the atrocities and crimes being committed against women and also to put an end the gender discrimination. The circle unions are requested to take the initiative in this regard. Reports and photos on the observation of International Women’s Day may be sent to the CHQ.    

On the issue of wage revision, the DoT had raised queries as to how the BSNL Management intends to manage the additional expenditure that will arise, due to the implementation of Wage Revision. It is understood that the total expenditure that will arise due to the implementation of Wage Revision from 01.01.2017 upto 31.03.2019 would come to around Rs.1,400 crores. It is understood that the Corporate Office has given a very detailed and convincing reply to the query raised by the DoT, with regards to managing the expenditure.

Com.P. Abhimanyu, GS, Com. Balbir Singh, President, Com. Swapan Chakraborty, Dy.GS and Com. Animesh Mitra, Vice-President, met Shri Manish Kumar, who has taken over charge recently as the GM(Restg.) in BSNL Corporate Office. Till recently, shri Manish Kumar was functioning as the Joint GM (Pers.). The Union representatives congratulated Shri Manish Kumar for his elevation of the GM (Restg.) During the discussion, they drew the attention of the GM(Restg.) to the issue of non-implementation of BSNL Corporate Office orders in respect of contract workers. They pointed out that the major problem is the non-implementation of minimum wage and EPF and demanded immediate steps need to be taken. Shri Manish Kumar assured his co-operation and stated that needful action would be taken.

Emergent Circle Executive Committee Meeting of M P Circle was held at Bhopal. Senior Comrade H S Thakur presided over. Com Prakash Sharma, Circle Secretary & AGS presented report on activity and elaborated on the on going struggle for 3rd Pay Revision & other demands. He also apprised the house about the developments on the demands of AUAB and also informed about the new demands included in the charter of demands about revival of BSNL.CEC also discussed and reviewed the two days General Strike organised on 8th and 9th January 2019. CEC was addressed by 26 District Secretaries. All the leaders vowed to make the 3 day strike a big success. A decision to organise to organise street corner meetings wef 11.02.2019 for 5 days. All Circle Office Bearers were given the responsibility of organising meetings for mobilisation in different SSAs. 3 day strike in M P Circle will be massive.

कल का प्रदर्शन पूर्ण उत्साह के साथ आयोजित करें...
BSNLEU, NFTE, AIBSNLEA, BSNL MS, ATM, TEPU और  BSNL OA ने देश भर में BSNL में VRS के क्रियान्वयन के विरोध में कल जबरदस्त रूप से प्रदर्शन आयोजित करने का कर्मचारियों को आव्हान किया है। सर्किल और डिस्ट्रिक्ट यूनियन्स से अनुरोध है कि प्रदर्शन की व्यापक रूप से सफलता के लिए हर संभव प्रयास करें, जिससे कि सरकार को उचित संदेश मिल सके। रिपोर्ट्स और फ़ोटो सीएचक्यू को प्रेषित करें।

Nusrat Jahan, Trinamool Congress MP from West Bengal, has been criticised for her appearance in the Parliament, with sindoor on her forehead and also with mangalsutra. The chief cleric of Jamia-Sheikh-Ul-Hind Madrassa in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, has criticised that the action of Nusrat Jahan is un-Islamic. In reply to the criticism, Nusrat Jahan has replied that she is a citizen of new progressive India, where all rituals and cultures need to be respected. She has asked why divide people in the name of religion. Further, she has asserted that she is a Muslim and also a citizen of a secular India.

An effective election campaign meeting was held at Dibrugarh on 04.09.2019. The meeting was presided over by Com.M.K. Bhawal, President. Com.Swarup Deb, District Secretary, welcomed. Com.Bijoy Deka, CS, Assam Circle, inaugurated the meeting.  Com. Animesh Mitra, President and Com.Gakul Borah, Treasurer(CHQ), addressed the meeting and explained about the financial revival of BSNL, 3rd PRC, Pensions Revision, VRS and reduction of retirement age to 58 years and other issues related to the Membership Verification.

BSNLEU conveys best wishes and warm greetings to all the comrades, on the occasion of the 550th  Jayanthi of Gurunanak.

A meeting of the AUAB was held today, presided over by Com.Chandeswar Singh, Chairman. All the constituents of the AUAB attended today's meeting. Com.P.Abhimanyu, Convenor, welcomed all and briefed on the agenda for discussion. The meeting held in-depth discussions and decided to launch agitational programme on the following Demands:-

1. Immediate payment of salary for the months of December, 2019 & January, 2020, as well as prompt payment of salary every month.
2. Immediate clearance of the dues, already deducted from the salaries of employees.
3. Immediate launching of BSNL’s 4G service.
4. Immediate granting of sovereign guarantee for issuing of bonds by BSNL.
5. Immediate withdrawal of notices issued under FR 17 (A).
6. No whimsical transfer of employees, consequent to the implementation of VRS.

Action Programme:

1. Lunch hour demonstrations on 11.02.2020.
2. Hunger strike at all levels on 24.02.2020.

1) Shri Santosh Nagesh, friend of Ms. Ayesha, d/o Com. Mehrunnisa Begum, SSS (Rtd.) CGMT office - Rs.5,000/-

2) Smt. Monica, d/o Com. S. Murali, circle treasurer, BSNLEU, Karnataka - Rs.3,500/-

3) Com. Kempegowda, DP, BGTD - Rs.2,000/-

4) Com. Parvathi, JE, Myrd., BGTD - Rs.2,000/-

5) Com. Venkatesh, JE, Myrd, BGTD. - Rs.2,000/-

6) Com. D.D. Shanwad, ACS, AIBDPA - Rs.1,500/-

7) Com. R. L. Gouri, Retd. TT, Belagavi – Rs.1,000/-

8) Com. Shiva, TT, Myrd, BGTD - Rs.1,000/-

9) Com. Puttabadava, TT, Myrd BGTD - Rs.1,000/-

10) Com. Thilaka, Retd. CGMT, KTK - Rs.1,000/-

11) Com. D.S. Balakkanavar , TT (Retd.) Belgaavi SSA - Rs.1,000/-

12) Com. Rajalakshmi Balasubrasubramanyam, SSS(Rtd.), CGMT office - Rs.1,000/-

13) Com. M.S. kambar, JE (Rtd.), Kalburgi - Rs.1,000/-

14) Com. Nasir Ahmed, Retd.TT, Shahabad - Rs.500/-

15) Shri Prabhu, Com. Mehrunnisa Begum's daughter's friend – Rs.500/-

The Central Secretariat meeting of BSNLEU held today, has decided to organise dharna programme, with social distancing, on 26.06.2020, on the following issues: -

1. Delay in rolling out BSNL’s 4G service.

The Central Government announced a revival plan for BSNL, on 23.10.2019. As per the plan, 79,000 employees have been retrenched under VRS. Except the VRS, other steps announced by the government, for the revival of BSNL, have not been implemented. Most importantly, BSNL has not rolled out it’s 4G service. Conspiracy has been hatched, to stop BSNL’s 4G service.  

2. Non-settlement of issues by BSNL Management.

The BSNL Management is insensitive to the sufferings of the employees. Salary of the employees is not being paid on time. Employees are not getting cashless treatment even during this COVId-19 crisis. Existing medical facilities are also being taken away. Employees are suffering due to the non-remittance of deductions on account of PLI premium and society dues. Contract workers are not paid wages for one year and they are being massively retrenched. Implementation of GTI (Group Term Insurance) and relaxation to JTO LICE are being inordinately delayed. In short, none of the issues of the Non-Executives, is being settled by the BSNL Management. The Management is remaining totally insensitive to the sufferings of the employees. 

In view of the above situation, the Central Secretariat decided to organise dharna programme, with social distancing, on 26.06.2020. The meeting decided that in view of the COVID-19, only 10 to 15 comrades should participate in the dharna in big stations. In all other places, only 5 comrades should participate. Display of placards and media coverage should be compulsorily arranged.

Nokia, the finnish telecom equipment supplier, has warned BSNL of terminating it’s employees working on BSNL project. BSNL has to pay Nokia an amount of Rs.910 crore, out of which Rs.600 crore is pending from January, 2020. Around 40% equipments in BSNL’s networks are supplied by Nokia. Nokia has stated that it has got written confirmation from BSNL, to release payment on a monthly basis from April, 2020, with all dues to be cleared by September, 2020. Nokia has added BSNL has defaulted in making any payment since March, 2020. Hence, it is considering terminating it’s employees on BSNL projects.