A VERY SPECIAL APPEAL

Dear Comrades,

People in different parts of our country face the nature’s fury. There were devastating natural disasters in the past.They were confined to a state or some areas. This time it is unusual and unprecedented; all pervading and widespread. Heavy rain made many a rivers like Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Godavari, Narmada, Krishna, Tungabhadra, Tapti, Pampa etc ferocious. It caused floods, landslides and total destruction in Assam, Andhra, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Maharastra, Orissa, Tamilnau, Telangana etc. It has affected cities and villages alike. Lakhs of people have to flee their places leaving behind everything except carrying their lives. Everything they earned through hard labour during the last 30 or 40 years is lost in 30 or 40 minutes/seconds. Many of them can never recapture the loss. Some settlements have disappeared totally in landslides. Dead bodies are still under the mud even after 10 days. Some are beyond recovery.

BSNL also lost a lot. The landlines and towers erected through 30/40 years are destroyed instantly. Private companies disappeared from the scene, as usual. Again, our men are in the field reconstructing the network. We witness heroes of National Disaster Management teams and large number of youngsters engaged in rescue operations. Caste, creed, region, religion – nothing stand in their way of service. It is India.

It is not the time to probe into the cause and accuse anybody. It is time to help the victims. AIBSNLPWA organized relief in the past. But, this time, we cannot assess the level of calamity or casualty or the loss. We cannot extend the help to any particular State as people of many states are affected. We cannot hold meetings of CWC or Secretariat immediately. Therefore, in consultation over phone with our CHQ President and some other CHQ office-bearers, it is decided to collect Relief Fund immediately from all Circle and District Units and make over the amount to the Prime Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (PMDRF).

It has to be done immediately, on war-footing urgency. I, on behalf of our CHQ, call upon all our Circle/District Secretaries to transfer considerable amounts from their funds to CHQ account for the purpose. It should be done immediately, before 30^th September 2019, latest. CHQ shall make over the entire fund so received to the PMDRF in a gathering.

Note: After transferring the amount please inform CHQ Treasurer through phone/whatsapp/email.

With greetings,

FANI FUND: On 16-8-2019, representing our Odisha Circle unit, Comrades B N Behera, A P Mohapatra, Sricharan Mohanty, B D Panda and Sarat Mohanty, handing over a Cheque of Rs 2.2 lakh to Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, being the second installment of our donations to help the victims of FANI cyclone.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY GREETINGS TO

ALL OUR VISITORS

Dear PGR, PSR
Mr. Mistry (GS of BDPA) has justified his nasty letter to Minister, through a posting in his website today, saying:

“….It is democracy and each one and every one has right to place his/her points before all concern. ….”

According to his democracy the Ministers should not grant meetings to people placing aside their (means Ministers') party politics! In our democracy, Ministers grant meetings to all who approach them, if time permits. In the past, the Congress Ministers also had done it.

CBMPA or AIBSNLPWA is not controlled by any Party or by any central trade union. It encompasses all shades of political views. AIBSNLPWA leaders met the minister for the cause of pensioners, not for any political purpose. Mr. Mistry wants to damage any prospect of Minister settling our long pending demand. That mischief should be defeated by all BSNL pensioners. Let him place his demand, Nobody bothers.

All our Districts Units should pass resolutions condemning the letter of Mistry and exposing the petty politics of this leader of Gujarat Association. Copy of the resolutions should be sent to the MOC also. Please give call through our website

R N Pada Nair, AGS at Kochi.

General Secretary of BDPA, Shri D.D.Mistry has written a letter to Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon. MoC on 6-7-2019 on the subject of “Pension Revision for BSNL Pensioners w.e.f. 01.01.2017 as per 3rd PRC recommendations”.It was a lengthy letter with 22 paras. (He has published the same in his journal and website.)Instead of justifying their demand, he wrote fully against our demand of 7th CPC fitment factor.We don’t want to point out some inaccuracies or typographical errors but we cannot leave the venom in that letter.

Para 2 of that letter states “You have spared your precious time to meet the Pensioners Association on 01.07.2019 through the recommendations of Shri Pralhad Joshiji, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs placing aside all party politics and meeting communist minded Associations”.

Para 4 of that letter states “In this regard, we are constrained to draw your kind attention to many inconsistent information therein; trying to justify the BSNL Pensioners Pension Revision w.e.f. 01.01.2017 as per 7th CPC recommendations”.

Para 15 of that letter states “BSNL unions under the influence of political ideology, abandoned the talks placing full stop on discussion” (on wage negotiation).

Mr. Mistry shall not stop. Never.

Para 16 of that letter states “Instead of further demanding the resumption of wage negotiations further, this Association (i.e. AIBSNLPWA) in its para 10, demands Pension Revision as per 7th CPC and we firmly believe that the demand is not practicable”.

WAGE NEGOTITION IS THE RIGHT OF SERVICE UNIONS; WE HAVE NO ROLE IN IT:

Mr. Mistry isreferring to Paras 11, 12, 15 and 16 of our letter to Hon. MoC and talkirrelevant things, asking Hon. MoC not to consider our demand.These write-ups deserve no reply and it is to be treated with contempt. The members of BDPA should think whether their organization is dragged on right path. AIBSNLPWA is an organization with members of all shades of political views. Same Mr. Mistry had joined this association at the initial stage. He left it for his political own reasons.

Mr. Mistry may advise the ministers not to meet leaders of BSNLEU and NFTE-BSNL because they can be branded as ‘communist minded.’

Uninvited, unwanted Advisors can go on giving advise to Ministers or Indian Prime Minister or Russian Prime Minister or American President. Who can stop them?

PENSIONERS, IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR AFFILIATION, SHOULD THINK WHO IS RIGHT AND WHO IS PROTECTING THE INTEREST OF PENSIONERS.

Driven by the past experience in 2007 for pension revision, we wanted a permanent solution and hence demanded 7th CPC fitment factor for pension revision for BSNL IDA pensioners. Our stand was consistent on this issue. Similarly, other pensioners’ organizations have every right to place their demand as per their understanding. Many of the constituents of CBMPA except AIBSNLPWA demanded pension revision @ 15% (3rd PRC recommendation for pay revision for the executives) earlier, but later understood the concept behind the demand of 7th CPC fitment factor. They understood the reality because they are committed to the interests of pensioners only. Now, there is complete unanimity among all the eight constituents of CBMPA on this demand. We are jointly and collectively moving on this issue.

Since we wanted to widen the unity further we appealed to other 3 pensioners’ organizations. AIBSNLREAdid not respond and kept silent.

AIBDPA sys they did not et our email. We did not get any nondelivery report even after ten days. But they saw our proposal. Good. They wrote in their website on 7/8/2019 about the issue.

In the 2nd para they said “We have put forward the demand of pension revision with 15% fitment from 01/01/2017, delinking pay revision………we got our pension revision from 01/01/2007 on IDA scales with 30% fitment, recommended by the 2nd PRC for the pay revision of executives in CPSU. Thus, a precedence is created for future pension revision with the criteria of maximum fitment recommended by the PRC”.

If you quote the precedence, then you have to wait for pay revision and you cannot demand delinking pay revision. Para 2 of DoT OM dated 15/3/2011 (order for pension revision from 1/1/2007) states “The matter regarding revision of pension in respect of BSNL IDA pensioners who retired during the period from 1/10/2000 to 31/12/2006 pursuant to wage revision in BSNL w.e.f. 1/1/2007 had been under consideration of the Government of India.

In para 4 they said “A conversion formula is also formulated to regulate the pension on CDA scales from 01/01/2016 with future dearness allowance on central DR.It will be suicidal to raise such a demand, detrimental to the interests of the pensioners”.

We have not demanded pension on CDA scales from 01/01/2016.They are consciously confusing the pensioners. Our formula is only to convert the existing IDA basic pension as on 01/01/2016 to be brought on par with CDA pension and not CDA scales. Both are different.They have also not explained how our proposal is suicidal and detrimental to the interests of pensioners.

In para 6 they said “Another argument for demanding CDA pension revision is stated to be that there may not be any PRC in future”

We did not say that there may not be any PRC in future.We only said that almost all the absorbed officials would have retired before 2027 and hence by 2027, pay revision or otherwise in BSNL/MTNL would be irrelevant and naturally pension revision cannot be linked to that. So, it is nothing but twisting the facts. They can confuse some of their own members,not others.

In para 7 they said “It should be remembered that the involvement and the struggles by the serving unions is very crucial in the settlement of such a basic demand of pension revision. The continuous struggles including the three days strike by AUAB has compelled the government to delink pension revision from wage revision”.

The fact of the matter is that the government has not yet decided to delink pension revision from wage revision. AUAB had a meeting with the then Minister Sri Manoj Sinha on 3-12-2018. In that meeting officers in DoT reported that they had already referred the matter to DoP&PW seeking permission for delinking. Minister directed the officers to expedite the matter.

The file is still shuttling between DoT & DoP&PW on this question of ‘delinking’, which department is to take a call on this issue is still undecided.

Our CHQ has started receiving reports and photos of meetings being organized by branches to celebrate the tenth anniversary of formation of our mighty AIBSNLPWA. It is time for celebration. It is time for taking up new challenges.

Nothing is easy. Nothing will come as automatic benefit. We have to struggle and take.

few photos are given below:

BANGALORE ON 17-8-2019

CHENNAI STR - TAMILNADU

ALLEPPEY KERALA

BATALA PUNJAB

BHAVNAGAR GUJARAT

GUNTUR ASHOKNAGAR - AP

GUDUVADA AP

HUBLI KARNATAKA

LUDHIANA PUNJAB

NAWANSHAHR PUNJAB

NELLORE AP

PATIALA PUNJAB

RAJPURA PUNJAB

VILLIVAKKAM CHENNAI

VIJAYAWADA (KRISHNA) - AP

SAMBALPUR - ODISHA

BHIMADOLE BRANCH (W.GODAVARI) - AP

GADAG - KARNATAKA

CBMPA HAS SUBMITTED A LETTER ON NEW PROPOSAL FOR PENSION REVISION SIGNED BY LEADERS OF ALL THE EIGHT CONSTITUENT ORGANIZATIONS

TO SEE THE LETTER CLICK HERE jt.-letter.pdf

As all of you know, CBMPA consisting of 8 organizations of BSNL/MTNL pensioners, submitted a new proposal for pension revision. It was published in websites and in whasapp groups. The proposal was welcomed by large number of pensioners all over India. Since unity of all is the need of the hour, we sent copy of our proposal to AIBDPA, AIBSNLREA and BDPA so that a single demand is placed before the Govt.

Shri D D Mistry, GS of BDPA has responded saying he would consider it. Shri S Basu, GS of AIBSNLREA has not yet responded. Shri K G Jayaraj, GS of AIBDPA has responded through a write up in his website. He claims that he has not received our Email. We sent the email at 1.39 PM on 3-8-2019 to aibdpa@gmail.com. We received the report that it was sent. Till this moment we have not received any non-delivery report. Technology will not lie.

AIBDPA has every right to pursue their demand for 15% fitment factor. (Fact is that PRC has not suggested any formula for pension revision.) We want serving staff should get pay revision. Staff unions are capable of taking decisions in this regard. We supported all their united programmes in the past. We shall do it in future too. Serving staff is future pensioners. We want a permanent solution so that existing and future pensioners will get pension revision.

GS of AIBDPA says our demand is disastrous but he does not say how it is disastrous. We tried for unity.We don’t want to quarrel with anyone. We wish them success.

Smt. Sushma Swaraj is no more. As a popular minister and important leader she needs no description.

She was Minister for Communications once for a short period. Then she became Chief Minister of Delhi. Before moving to Delhi Secretariat, as communications minister, she granted rent free telephone connection to all telecom pensioners.

Originally it was not given to serving employees of DoT. I was in Sanchar Bhavan with the then Director (SR) Mr Rao when the news reached him. Immediately I sent a fax message to her and and met her next day with a letter requesting extension of the facility to serving staff. She read the letter, smiled but did not commit anything at that time. But soon, she ordered to extend the facility to serving staff of Telecom also.

She was an able, strong minister with a human approach; but not given a berth this time in the cabinet.

We convey our condolences on the sad demise of Smt Sushma Swaraj.

......................................... P S Ramankutty