Com. Swapan Chakraborty, Dy.GS and Com. Animesh Mitra, VP (CHQ), met Shri Keshav Rao, GM (Trag. & Estt.), BSNL CO on 10.01.2018 and discussed the following items:-

1. To give necessary approval for change of Holiday on 15^th January, 2018 from 14^th January, 2018, as “Makar Sankranti” for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana circle.

The State Government of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state has declared “Makar Sankranti” as holiday on 15^th January, 2018. Earlier, the Circle Heads of both the circles had notified “Makar Sankranti” as holiday on 14^th January, 2018, in view of the recommendations of the Central Government Employees Co-ordination Committee. Since, the State Government have now decided to change of the date of the holiday of “Makar Sankranti” from 14^th January, 2018 to 15^th January, 2018, and the Central Government Employees Co-ordination Committee has also recommended to change of the date, the Circle Management forwarded the proposal to the BSNL CO for approval under clause 4 of the Corporate Office letter. The GM (Trg. & Estt.) assured to look into the matter.

2. Arrangement for phase-I JAO training of departmental candidates against LICE of J&K circle.

The J&K circle has requested the CGM, NATFM, Hyderabad to arrange phase-I JAO training of the departmental candidates against LICE. Since, the CGM, NATFM has not allotted any seats to the circle, the union representatives requested the GM (Trg.) to intervene. The GM (Trg.) assured to take necessary steps in this regard.

3. Continuation of GPF to the TSMs in West Bengal circle.

The TSMs are governed by GPF rule and they were contributing their GPF in West Bengal circle before formation of BSNL and till introduction of ERP. The circle administration of West Bengal discontinued to recover GPF for TSMs, stating that no instructions are available with them after ERP introduction in the circle. The circle has forwarded the matter to BSNL CO for clarification. The union representatives request the GM (Estt.) to give necessary clarification immediately. The GM (Estt.) assured to look into the matter.

The BSNL Management has already taken steps for the constitution of the Joint Committee for wage negotiations. BSNLEU has been directed to nominates it’s five representatives to the Joint Committee for wage negotiations. BSNLEU has already sent it’s nominations. Today’s Com.P. Abhimanyu, GS and Com. Animesh Mitra, Vice President (CHQ), met Shri A.M. Gupta, GM(SR), and demanded that the meeting of the Joint Committee should be conducted immediately, desirably in the 3^rd week of July itself. The GM(SR) assured to take the needful action.

The District Conference of BSNLEU, Bangalore Telecom District was held on 21^st & 22^nd September, 2018. Com. Kempegowda, District President, presided over the meeting. Com. H.V. Sudharshan, District Secretary, welcomed every one. Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS, inaugurated the delegates session on 21.09.2018 and explained about 3^rd wage revision, issues connected with the financial revival of BSNL, Subsidiary Tower Company and the settlement of long pending issues of the Non-Executives. The delegates session was also addressed by Com. C.K. Gundanna, CS, Com. M.C. Balakrishna, CP and many others. A very impressive open session was held on 22.09.2018, addressed by Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS and Shri Janardhan Rao, PGM, BGTD and Com. Prakash, CITU, greeted the conference.

All circle secretaries & CHQ office bearers are requested to ensure that the SAVE BSNL - SAVE NATION campaign is  organised effectively, by way of conducting street corner meetings. The climate is very hot. Hence, the street corner meetings can be conducted during evening hours. Print as many handbills as possible and distribute among the public and employees. Try to conduct as many street corner meetings as possible, within the stipulated time,ie., 30th April, 2019. Please send report and photos to the CHQ. Regards.

-P. Abhimanyu,GS.

In their meeting with Shri Arvind Vadnerkar, Director (HR), BSNL, yesterday, Com.Animesh Mitra, President and Com.P.Abhimanyu, GS, raised the issue of verification of caste certificates of the ST employees of Maharashtra circle. They pointed out that, clear cut decision was given by the Director (HR), in the Formal meeting held with BSNLEU on 14.01.2020, that the DoP&T orders would be implemented on the matter. However, the Maharashtra Circle Administration is sticking on to their earlier decision of getting the caste certificates verified through the scrutiny committees, complained the leaders. The Director (HR) assured that the needful would be done. 

1) Staff Union, CTD Co-Op - Rs.10,000.00

2) Com. Com. Karabi Bandyopadhyay SMP - Rs.5000.00

3) BSNLEU BZ Division - Rs.5000.00

4) BSNLEU ENTL Division - Rs.5000.00

5) Com.Heramba Biswas, CT - Rs.1000.00

6) Com. Judhistir Halder CT  - Rs. 1000.00

7) Com. Kaustab Chakraborty CT - Rs. 1000.00

8) Com. Pradip Chakraborty CT - Rs. 1000.00

9) Com. Manawar Ali CT - Rs. 1000.00

10) Com. Santosh Raha CT - Rs. 1000.00

11) Com. Pradeep Chaudhary CT - Rs. 1000.00

12) Com. Samaresh Saha CNTL - Rs. 1000.00

13) Com. Swapan Kumar Mishra CNTL - Rs. 1000.00

14) Com. Susanta Ghosh Dastidar CT Rs. 1000.00

15) Com. Pradeep Biswas CT - Rs. 1000.00

16) Com. Subhash Ghosh BDN - Rs. 1000.00

17) Com. Asit Chanda BDN - Rs. 1000.00

18) Com. Gopal Mitra STH - Rs. 500.00

19) Com. Prasun Mukherjee, CNTL - Rs. 1000.00

20) Com. Sibji Mahato CNTL - Rs. 1000.00

21) Com. Prabir Kumar Roy CNTL - Rs. 500.00

22) Com. Bijoy Sardar CNTL - Rs. 500.00

The Corporate Office has issued clarifications, on the outdoor medical claims by retired employees, wherein it is mentioned that, there is no cut off date to switch over from BSNL MRS to CGHS. Further, it is stated that, the option to switch over from “with voucher” to “without voucher” mode,  can be exercised once in a year.  The last date to exercise this option for the current year, is extended up to 30.09.2020, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The nation is told that, the “PM CARES” Fund is created for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a lot of controversies are going on about this Fund. It is an alarming fact that, even the CAG has no power to audit the accounts of the PM CARES Fund. Further, no RTI question can be raised about the accounts of PM CARES Fund. It means the PM CARES Fund is completely covered by iron curtains and it’s dealings are highly secret. Why? 

It is an open secret that, the government has forced all the PSUs to donate money to the PM CARES Fund. According to the available information, 55 PSUs have been forced to contribute money to the PM CARES Fund. In this, the donations of 38 PSUs alone come to Rs.2,105 crores. The Central Ministers have used their official power to compel the PSUs to give donations to the PM CARES Fund. In BSNL also, one day pay was deducted from employees’ salaries for this Fund. Following are the details of donations given by some of the PSUs. 

1.   ONGC         – Rs.300 crore
2.   NTPC          – Rs.250 crore
3.   Indian Oil     – Rs.225 crore
4.   Power Grid  – Rs.200 crore
5.   Power Fin   – Rs.200 crore
6.   NMDC        – Rs.155 crore
7.   REC           – Rs.150 crore
8.   BPCL         – Rs.125 crore
9.   HPCL         – Rs.120 crore
10.   Coal India  – Rs.100 crore

The iron curtains of the PM CARES Fund only remind us the following proverb: -

" Power corrupts and 

absolute power corrupts absolutely". 

Leaders of BSNL unions and associations, submitted memorandum to Hon’ble MPs, Smt. M.K. Kanimozhi, Chennai, shri S.R.Vijayakumar, Chennai Central, Dr. P.Venugopal, Thiruvallur and shri T.Rathinavel, Trichy.

On the successful conclusion of the Himachal Pradesh circle conference, Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS, met Shri Naresh Sharma, CGM, Himachal Pradesh, yesterday and introduced the new circle office bearers to the CGM. Com. Amarjeet Singh, Circle President, Com. K.C. Panwar, Circle Secretary, Com. A.S. Kaundal, Circle Treasurer, Com. Sukh Dev Sharma, Circle Vice President and Com. B.S. Thakar, Assistant Circle Secretary were introduced to the CGM. The CGM congratulated the newly elected office bearers. Shri Dorje, GM (HR), Himachal Pradesh was present in the meeting. The newly elected office bearers assured their fullest cooperation to the circle administration on the issue of improving services and revenue collection.

From the very beginning, the casual labourers in BSNL are being paid wages based on the lowest of the CDA pay scale. However, their wages are not revised after the implementation of the 7^th CPC pay scales. BSNLEU and BSNL CCWF are continuously taking up this issue with the CMD BSNL and Director (HR). The issue was raised in the 36^th meeting of the National Council also, held on 12.06.2018, for which the Director (HR) responded positively. Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS and Com. Animesh Mitra, Vice President (CHQ), met Shri Sourab Tyagi, Sr.GM(Estt.) today and insisted for the early implementation of the 7^th CPC scale for the casual labourers. The Sr.GM(Estt.) assured to do the needful.

While concluding his speech in the District Conference of Bangalore Telecom District, on 22.09.2018, Com.P. Abhimanyu, GS, called upon the delegates to liberally donate for the 9^th All India Conference, to be held at Mysuru from 08^th to 11^th January, 2019. He told the delegates that the total expenditure for the All India Conference, which is estimated to be around Rs.90 lakhs, has to be collected only from the members of BSNLEU. Responding to the call of the General Secretary overwhelmingly, the delegates attending the District Conference, immediately came forward and announced their donations to the AIC. It was a very inspiring scene to note that the delegates were competing with each other, to come to the dias, for announcing their donations. Within no time, an amount of Rs.2,75,000 was announced. It is very important to note that none of the donation announced in the Conference, was less than Rs.5,000/-. This shows the loyalty of the comrades to the organisation. The comrades who donated for the AIC, took photos with the General Secretary and other leaders, which are uploaded herein under.

The CMD BSNL and Director (HR) were holding discussions with the AUAB for the past two days. They were conveying the proposal given by the DoT with regards to 3rd Pay Revision. Accordingly, Pay Revision will be done immediately with 0% fitment. Thereafter, the Hon’ble Minister will take up with the Cabinet for granting 5% fitment. The AUAB had discussion among the General Secretaries and has unanimously decided that 10% fitment should be our minimum demand. This has been communicated to the DoT through the CMD BSNL. As regards the offer of DoT, BSNLEU’s understanding is that, pay revision will be done only with 0% fitment. We cannot trust the assurance of the Minister that 5% fitment will be taken for the approval of the Cabinet. It is our past experience that the DoT and the Hon’ble Minister have totally violated whatever assurance they had given. Hence, BSNLEU requests our circle and district unions to do the necessary gearing up to make the strike successful. Any further development will be updated immediately..

AUAB और CMD BSNL के बीच 04.07.2019 को मीटिंग सम्पन्न...

कल AUAB के प्रतिनिधियों ने श्री पी के पुरवार, CMD BSNL से मुलाकात कर विस्तार से चर्चाएं की। BSNLEU, NFTE, SNEA, AIBSNLEA, BSNL MS के महासचिव व AIGETOA, ATM and BSNL OA के प्रतिनिधि शामिल हुए।

AUAB के प्रतिनिधियों ने BSNL के राजस्व में वृद्धि के उद्देश्य से "BSNL आपके द्वार" अभियान के तीव्रता के साथ क्रियान्वयन करने के 03.07.2019 को AUAB की मीटिंग में लिए गए निर्णय से CMD BSNL को अवगत कराया। CMD BSNL ने इसकी प्रशंसा की और बताया कि BSNL कॉर्पोरेट ऑफिस द्वारा भी इस कार्यक्रम की सफलता के लिए आवश्यक कदम उठाए जाएंगे। साथ ही उन्होंने सलाह दी कि बकाया राशि की वसूली हेतु भी प्रयास किए जाएं। CMD BSNL ने बताया कि अकेले EB ब्रांच में ही रु 3000 करोड़ की वसूली योग्य बकाया राशि (आउटस्टैंडिंग अमाउंट) है। उन्होंने स्क्रैप मटेरियल के निपटान का भी आग्रह किया, जिससे कि कुछ राशि प्राप्त हो सके। 

प्रतिनिधियों ने CMD BSNL के संज्ञान में लाया कि BSNL के FTTH कनेक्शन की जबरदस्त मांग है और इसके जरिए कंपनी आकर्षक राजस्व प्राप्त कर सकती है। साथ ही, उन्होंने बताया कि आवश्यक उपकरण और स्टोर्स व मटेरियल उपलब्ध नही है, फलस्वरूप BSNL मांग अनुसार FTTH कनेक्शन उपलब्ध नही करवा पा रहा है। CMD BSNL ने कहा कि इस संबंध में आवश्यक कार्यवाही की जाएगी।

AUAB के प्रतिनिधियों ने DoT द्वारा ALTTC की जमीन पर कब्जा करने की कार्यवाही पर कड़ा प्रतिरोध दर्ज कराते हुए कहा कि वें इसके विरोध में आन्दोलन करने के लिए बाध्य होंगे। CMD BSNL ने कहा कि इस संबंध में DoT को यथोचित तरीके से सूचित किया जाएगा।

AUAB के प्रतिनिधियों ने CMD BSNL को बताया कि इलेक्ट्रिसिटी बिल्स का भुगतान न होने की वजह से बड़ी संख्या में BTS बंद होते जा रहे हैं और विगत 6 माह से कॉन्ट्रैक्ट वर्कर्स को भी वेजेस का भुगतान नही हुआ है। उन्होंने ध्यान दिलाया कि सेवाओं में तीव्र गति से गिरावट आ रही है, इस दिशा में शीघ्र ही कुछ किया जाना जरूरी है। CMD BSNL ने बताया कि कोई भी बैंक लोन देने के लिए तैयार नही है, किन्तु वें बैंक लोन हेतु पुरजोर प्रयास कर रहे हैं, जिससे कि स्थिति में सुधार हो सके।

BSNL से BBNL का मेंटेनेंस कार्य छीन लिए जाने के मुद्दे पर CMD BSNL ने बताया कि BSNL को मेंटेनेंस कार्य के एवज में प्राप्त राशि बेहद कम है और BBNL इसमें वृद्धि करने को तैयार नही है। अतः इस कार्य को जारी रखने में BSNL की भी रुचि नही है, क्योंकि यह कार्य फायदेमंद नही है। साथ ही, CMD BSNL ने बताया कि BSNL ने अलाभप्रद स्थिति में चल रहे 17000 एक्सचेंजेस के संचालन के लिए सरकार से मुआवजे की मांग की है।

IT is really a good news for BSNL that, telecom tariffs have started rising. It is known to all that BSNL's earnings nose-dived from Rs. 32,000 crore per year to Rs. 18,000 crore per year, only due to the brutal tariff war triggered by Reliance Jio. But, this trend has started changing now. Jio has already raised it's tariffs. It is charging 6 paise per minute for calls going to other networks. Jio has also increased it's minimum pre-paid plan tariff to Rs. 98 per month. Under these circumstances, Vodafone Idea and Airtel are also raising their tariffs. As per media report, both the companies are expected to raise their tariffs between 5% to 10%. Consequent to this, BSNL can also increase it's tariffs, which will help to improve it's financial position.

[ Source: Times of India dt. 19-11-2019 ]

A well attended meeting of BSNL employees was addressed by Com.Swapan Chakraborty, Dy.GS, at Port Blair, on 13-02-2020. The meeting was presided over by Com.M.Rajendiran, vice- president. Earlier, Com.S.P.Kalairajan, circle secretary welcomed everyone. Com. Swapan Chakraborty, Dy.GS, spoke at length about the present scenario of BSNL, revival of the Company, Government's anti - Public Sector policies, etc. The meeting was also addressed by Com Brijesh Pande CS AIBSNLEA, Com. Rathna, ACS, BSNLEU and Com Ravichandran Secretary Contact Workers Union.

In a televised speech made to the nation yesterday, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has announced that lock-down is being extended up to 3rd May, 2020. The Prime Minister stated that the extension of the lock-down has become necessary to effectively curb the spread of the Corona Virus Disease. The Home Ministry, vide it’s letter number 40-3/2020-DM-I(A) dated 15th April, 2020 has issued the necessary order for the extension of the lock-down.