OUR CHQ PRESIDENT

Com G.L.Jogi retires ……on superannuation

SNEA(I) kmb district Members whole heartily Congratulate him and We Wish him a Happy, 

Peaceful and Healthy retired life.

                 Com. G L Jogi, the lion, yes, the lion-hearted and lion-throated leader of men needs no introduction to anyone on the trade union scene of the country.

            He has left inimitable and indelible marks on organized Trade Union activities.

       The great strides made by him on the cadre issues of the JTOs and the Executives of DOT and BSNL , including promotion of 8000 JTOs in one stroke, the unity of the entire Executive Community, the honorable entry of the Executives in the BSNL entity, the graceful terms and conditions for absorption, the drafting of the BSNMS RRs, steps initiated towards cadre-hierarchy system in BSNL, the ITS absorption issue, the 78.2% DA etc are  well known to us.

           He, and Com. W.SeshagiriRao, were the only two leaders in the whole country who resisted the corporatization of the DOT till the end. But once the BSNL came into existence it was his prime concern to ensure the profitability and the financial viability of BSNL, even when everything looked smooth and the profits were at Rs. 10,000 per year.

               His relentless fights to maintain a profitable organization can be well read in all his statements, writings and fights both on the Association as well as external fronts.

                The 45.5 million GSM tender, the unbundling of copper, the ADC charges, the Universal Service Obligation Fund etc were all fought valiantly with all the strength he could muster. All these definitely yielded rich dividends also.

                 His stiff resistance to corruption at the cost of inviting personal animosity with all and sundry in the top echelons of hierarchy, is something that only his strength and courage can dare and accommodate.

                     His stiff, stern and undaunted fights against fraudulent allocation of 2g spectrum to real estate companies like unitech, swan etc, and permitting them to piggyback on bsnl thrusting on it an illegal roaming agreement, arbitrary and fraudulent allocation of bwa spectrum, breach of policy by private operators in cartelizing the 3g tender and roaming with each other, allocation of sub standard 2.6 ghz bwa spectrum to bsnl, discrimination to bsnl in procurement of chinese equipment, compulsion on bsnl to pay license fees and spectrum charges based  on income inclusive of non-telecom activities, fight against corruption particularly the fraudulent wi-max deal, fight against unethical provisions of ntp 2012,  are but a few that the limitations of this page can contain.

          And for sure he was greatly successful in reaching the desired results, utilizing not only the Association platform but also other agencies like other Unions, media and the Court. Most of the issues thus highlighted received national attention with the media engrossed in them for several, not weeks, but months.  Naturally true to his ilk, he hid himself from the limelight. He sought not fame but justice and this he was able to achieve.

        His interaction with Sri Sam Pitroda on Telecom and BSNL, particularly in the live interview in the AIC at Nanded  is a testimony  of his gigantic stature at the National level. We certainly are proud that we walked this earth holding hands with such great personalities. Yes, we were really fortunate.

       

  His concern for the employees was not limited to the BSNL. His stern stand during the agitation in the oil sector, organizing the officers of all Central Government Organisations and fighting till the punitive measures were reversed, can stem only from rare gems like him.

       We are extremely fortunate to have him with us for many more years to lead us and inspire us. Today when he is stepping out of the portals of the BSNL and retiring from his official duties, all our Comrades thank him profusely for his official services in the BSNL.

Message from Army to Soldiers

In the proud tradition of the Air Force,  the Brothers in Arms and the IAF family has sent the following condolence message to those  died in the chopper crash while engaged in saving the lives of thousands of people in the Uttarakhand disaster:

" You all have done us proud, for you gave your life in service of your countrymen without discretion of colour, caste, creed or religion - more importantly, in their hour of need. You are now a guiding beacon in our deeds. Your selfless sacrifice in Operation Rahat is monumental and just remembering it would be more than any pilgrimage to us."

All Indians will be sharing the same condolence to those brave hearts who sacrificed themselves to save others in the hour of need.

The Forum meeting on 26-6-2013 appreciated and expressed its thanks to the Military (including Air Force and all defence personnel) for the continued efforts to save the stranded pilgrims, tourists and local population round the clock, without even considering their own safety.

Already some of these army personnel have sacrificed their lives to bring the stranded to safety.

The Forum condoled the death of these brave hearts who are the pride of the country

The  ECONOMIC TIMES  /   media news

PTI Jun 25, 2013, 10.16PM IST  

272 mobile towers, 44 telephone  exchanges in Uttarakhand

Were restored, 

 CMD RK Upadhyay today said.

The company, however, could not restore telecom infrastructure at three locations - Dharchula, Narayan Bazar and Kedarnath where all equipments of the company were washed away in the devastating floods, he added.

The BSNL chief said technology makes it possible for authorities to find out the exact number of people in the affected areas based on their mobile phone usage. "It is technically possible to know how many customers were there (during the calamity) in that area at a particular time. That can be done," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director RK Upadhyay said here.

When asked if BSNL tried to find out the number of its customers who could have been hit by floods, the BSNL CMD said: "This is for government to consider. As a licencing authority, the government can task any operator to do that. Technical systems of each operator is independent and BSNL can find out about it customers."

The death toll has crossed over 800 due to unprecedented flash floods in Uttarakhand and initially over 70,000 pilgrims were estimated to be stranded in affected area. As on date 8,000 people are still estimated to be stranded in flood area.

Upadhyay that over 1,250 people used BSNL's mobile tracking service, accessible though helpline number 1503 and 09412024365, to know last location of their friends and relatives using BSNL mobile connection in flood-hit areas. "We have responded to 949 queries till first half today," he said.

Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations unanimously decided to donate one day pay towards PMs relief fund on Uttarkkand relief fund.

Appeal from CS/SNEA(I), Uttarakhand to all BSNL Employees.

“Every body in the country is continuously viewing the news of recent Natural calamity in Uttarakhand in 16th June, and every body is shocked.  Defence forces and state Govt. teams have evacuated about 40000 people but still there are more than that those are trapped in odd situations. There is no estimation about the number of casualties which may rise to  Several thousands.  The pilgrims from all over the world are trapped there without food, water and shelter. Center & State Govts are doing their best to provide relieve to the victims  of  the disaster,  which  is of massive nature  and spread at various locations, a lot work has still to be done .  Although our comrades posted at these SSAs are working day & night to restore the services, we being sensitive citizens, must extend our hand to the victims at this juncture.  SNEA(I) Uttarakhand, therefore, proposes to that all the BSNL  Employees/Executives of BSNL contribute one day salary towards the PM’s relief fund”.  

( S.S  Rauthan )

Circle Secretary Uttarakhand.

Thousands of people throughout the country gone

 to Badri Nath/Kedar Nath and local people of Utharakhand and H.P.

are in extreme distress due to the ravage and fury of floods and landslides.

 BSNL To fix mobile towers in Uttarakhand in 3 days

NEW DELHI: State-run telecom firm BSNL today said it will restore within three days its mobile towers at places where most of the stranded people are located in flood-hit Uttarakhand.

"Our 270 BTS (mobile towers) were down till last evening across state. Out of these, we have restored 10 BTS at crucial locations where most of stranded people are located. In next three days most of the BTS will be up and running," BSNL chairman and managing director RK Upadhyay told PTI.

It is clear from this trend that till now all these private operators were charging 80 to 90% higher data rates as compared to BSNL for same data usage.

Circle Office Bearers of SNEA(I), Tamilnadu Circle
President	Com.S.  Sundarakrishnan,             AGM   Chennai	9486100188
Vice  Presidents	Com. P.  Raja Ragupathy,           SDE    Tuticorin	9486103888
	Com.J.   Suresh,             SDE   Coimbatore	9486101021
Circle Secretary	Com. M.  Gopinathan,             SDE / REM    Chennai	9486104466
Finance Secretary	Com. V.  Jayaraman,             SDE   Dharmapuri	9486101666
Asst.  Circle Secretaries	Com. P.G. Lakshmipathy,             SDE / STR   Chennai	9444979115
	Com. R.  Rajasekar,             SDE  / STP Chennai	9486107027
	Com. M.R. Tamilkodi,              DE  /  IMPCS TRICHY	9443200909
	Com. S.   Ganesan,              SDE   Madurai	9486102371
	Com. R.  Veeramuthu,               SDE  Salem	9486106206
Organizing Secretaries	Com.  A.  Selvam,               SDE  Pondicherry	9486102777
	Com.  P.  Govindharajan,               SDE  Virudhunagar	9486104213
	Com.T.K. Sendhur Pandiyan,               SDE / AT Coimbatore	9486105188
	Com.  P.  Loghanathan,                SDE  Vellore	9486103942
	Com.  I.M. Venkataraman,               SDE  Civil wing / Chennai	9486100507
CWC Members	Com.   R.  Asokan,              SDE   Cuddalore	9443200466
	Com.  V.  Mahendran,               AGM   Kumbakonam	9486100603
	Com. K.G. Durai Pandiyan,         JTO  Electrical Kumbakonam	9486100673
	Com. I.  Chandrasekaran,               SDE  Tirunelveli	9486103318
	Com. S.  Easwaran,                SDE  STR   Erode	9486105957
	Com. K.J. Kishorekumar,            SDE / IMPCS Dharmapuri	9443200100
	Com. N.  Albert Singh,                  SDE   Nagercoil	9486102634

            Core Committee of the Forum formed.

                        In the Forum meeting held on 13-06-2013, the question of improving the functioning of the Forum was discussed.

           With a view to take timely decisions and interventions, it was decided to form a Core Committee.

                        The following comrades are the members of the Core Committee. Com. V. A. N. Namboodiri, Convener, com. P. Abhimanyu, GS, BSNLEU, com. Chandeswar Singh, GS, NFTE BSNL, com. K. Sebastian, GS, SNEA, com. Prahalad Rai, GS, AIBSNLEA, com. K. Jayaprakash, GS, FNTO and com. N. D. Ram, President, SEWA BSNL.

The following decisions are taken in this direction:- 

1)  To continue to unwaveringly fight against the wrong and anti-BSNL policies of the government.

2)  To continue to take action with a view to pressurise the BSNL Management for timely procurement of equipments and all essential items for improvement of the quality of services.

3)  To conduct a campaign among the employees for the improvement of their work culture as well as their interactions with the customers.

4)  To continuously keep a watch on the wasteful expenditures being incurred by the Management and to stop it.

BSNL   has issued order no.
 1-50 / 2008 PAT (BSNL)   dt.,13/06/2013

 for the allowances 
[ House Rent Allowance, Professional upgradation  allowance
     and Medical reimbursement with voucher for outdoor treatment ]

                 will  be paid at  IDA Basic Pay 
                    with 68.8 % fitment only.  

Media report:- [from  BUSINESS STANDARD dt., 13/06/2013 ]

The Department of Telecom (DoT) today made a preliminary presentation on the present financial status of BSNL and MTNL to the Group of Ministers looking into the revival strategy of the state-owned telecom firms but no merger plan came up for discussion.

"The preliminary presentation has been made and the issues have been crystalised...Next time we (DoT) will make a detailed presentation on certain issues and then the GoM will take some decisions in principle on those issues," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

Asked about the merger plans between BSNL and MTNL, Sibal said: "We have not discussed (it) yet."

The GoM, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, met for the first time since it was constituted after Sibal in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised concerns over the future of the two loss-making PSUs.

Sibal said the next meeting of the GoM is likely to be held soon.

The DoT in its presentation indicated that the cash reserves of thePSU firms depleted post the purchase of BWA and 3G spectrum at auction determined price in 2010.

Both the firms jointly shelled out Rs 29,598.35 crore for 3G and BWA airwaves. For 3G services, BSNL was asked to pay Rs 10,186.58 crore and MTNL Rs 6,564 crore. BWA spectrum jointly costed these firms Rs 12,847.77 crore.

"We have basically indicated how both MTNL as well as BSNL were obliged to purchase the BWA spectrum and of course paid for the 3G spectrum at the prices discovered in 2010," Sibal said.

MTNL reported widening of the net loss to Rs 5,321.12 crore for financial year 2012-13 compared to Rs 4,109.78 crore in FY'12. BSNL's losses are expected to be around Rs 8,198 crore for the last financial year.
DoT also shed light on legacy issues and how the firms have to discharge pension liabilities.

"...The pension liability of MTNL has to be discharged by the company whereas in the case of BSNL, the liability is discharged by government and of course the legacy issues, the result of all of which is that the company is not in very good shape as of now...Some immediate solutions are required," Sibal said.

High wage costs had been a major reason for these companies running in to losses. Overall, salary and pension expenses of MTNL employees form 103 per cent of revenues while for BSNL the same stands at 49 per cent.

The revival plan includes support of Rs 10,117 crore for retaining airwaves by BSNL and MTNL beyond the initial quantity that was allocated to them for mobile and other wireless services, and simultaneously refunding of money paid for BWA spectrum.

The members of GoM include Sibal who also dons the hat of Law Minister, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy.

11/06/2013 14:00 hours CHQ NEWS:

Heartiest congratulations !!!

BSNL endorsed the presidential order issued by DOT for fixation of 78.2% IDA on 11-06-13.

              Forum of Unions and Associations has decided to call off the  indefinite strike to be organized  from 12-06-2013.,, consequent to issue of necessary orders.