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Welcome Madanapalle branch
A new branch of AIBSNLPWA with 35 members is formed at Madanapalle, under Tirupathi SSA, AP on 4-2-2020 in the presence of Com. Soundara Rajan , DS of Tirupathi.
Comrades Thiruppani, Shaik Mohamed Basha and B Reddappah are elected as Branch President, Secretary and Treasurer respectively. CHQ Welcomes the new branch.
CCA offices in almost all Circles are ready with manpower and software to process the pension cases of VRS Optees. They can authorize the pension only after getting particulars from BSNL Circle Offices. That is not coming. Hence, immediately provisional pension only may be authorized.
But, for giving provisional pension also the CCA offices require particulars from the BSNL on Pay drawn in January 2020 by each VRS Pensioner. More than that, a specific order from DOT Headquarters is essential.
BSNL management has failed to supply the particulars to DoT Cells. DoT HQ has not yet issued any order.
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DOT is the authority to pay pension. Unfortunately, the staff unions failed to obtain any proper assurance or order from DoT on pension to the VRS Optees.
OUR ASSOCIATION HAS TAKEN UP THE MATTER WITH DOT. WE HAVE REQUESTED THE DOT & MTNL TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION SO THAT CCAs CAN AUTHORIZE PROVISIONAL PENSION TO THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAME OUT UNDER VRS.
To see the letter, please click here. pension-for-vrs-optees.pdf
News:Business Standard: 3-2-2020:
“BSNL and MTNL employees, who have opted for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) scheme, will have to wait for next fiscal year (FY21) to get their dues. The reason for this delay is because the Union Budget 2020 has not made any provisions for disbursement towards the programme in FY20. Settlement worth Rs 37,268.42 crore on account of VRS, capital investment in BSNL and MTNL for 4G spectrum and grant for payment of GST has been budgeted for the next financial year, the Business Standard reported.”
The budget 2020 is presented. Rs 37640 crore is allotted to BSNL and MTNL according to the Media reports. It will be available only after the Budget and Appropriation bill are adopted by Parliament. Now, one month gap is given for Committees to meet and discuss the allotment etc. By end of March 2020, the Budget will be approved. Only in April the funds will be made available.
So, BSNL and MTNL will not be able to pay the first instalment of Exgratia under VRS before 31-3-2020. Many assurances were given to the employees. Nothing is honoured.
All India Consumer Price Index for December 2019 is announced. It is 330 points. 2 points increase from previous month.
So central government employees are entitled to get 21% CDA from January 2020.
4% increase from existing 17%.
...
PTI News:New Delhi: 31-1-2020:
The central government has decided that pensioners’ life certificates will be collected from their doorstep, saving them from hassles of visiting pension disbursing banks. The service will be charged an amount not exceeding Rs 60, according to a statement issued on Thursday by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW). Every year a pensioner is required to give proof of him being alive to banks in order to ensure continued pension. These certificates can be submitted online or by visiting the bank.
“The department has taken a landmark step to make life easier for senior citizens to submit their annual life certificate for continued pension,” it said.
Directions have been issued to all pension disbursing banks to send SMS or emails to all their pensioners on October 24, November 1, November 15 and November 25 every year reminding them to submit their annual life certificates by November 30, the statement said.
“The bank in addition will also ask such pensioners through SMS/email as to whether they are interested in submission of life certificate through a chargeable doorstep service, the charge not exceeding Rs 60, it said.
The department for stricter monitoring and in order to ensure that no pensioners are left out has also directed the banks to make an exception list on December 1 every year of those pensioners who fail to submit their life certificate and issue another SMS or email to them for submitting it. The Central Pension Processing Cells (CPPC) of the pension disbursing banks shall now be duty bound to submit a report to the DoPPW in January, February and March. The report will indicate the total number of pensioners who have not given their life certificate along with a breakup of the certificates submitted physically and through digital means, the statement said. This is a landmark step from the side of the central government showing due care for pensioners, it said.
This step is in addition to the order issued in July last year, vide which all pensioners age 80 years and above have been given an exclusive window to submit their life certificate w.e.f. 1st October every year instead of 1st November every year, the statement added.
Please click here to see the order: lc-collection-circular.pdf
Dear Comrades,
I pen these lines strictly as personal notes with malice to none.
Today, on 31-01-2020, about 86000 comrades are coming out of their offices under VRS. Rather, they are forced to quit. It marks end of an era. A generation of workers is going out; with empty hands. They have not received the wages for 62 days’ labour. For 31 days in December 2019 and 31 days in January 2020. They are not paid the first instalment of ‘attractive ex-gratia”, as assured. They have to wait. They gave their blood, their sweat and their tears for development of Indian telecommunication infrastructure. Most of them did not see the AC rooms. They worked in remote hamlets of India, in the forests where wild animals were wandering.
I was not interested to see the skyscrapers in cities. I preferred to see the villages and the people living there. I had seen how our comrades were working there.
I know a Telephone lineman who had to spend two hours on the top of new telephone pole erected in a deep forest as a wild elephant was standing down smelling a human being somewhere. Having no response from the above Lineman, others working at a distance came and found that man on the top of the pole and the elephant below. In old days, our people had to erect poles and lines in such areas and conditions. One line of 5 or 8 KMs to give one telephone connection. 30-40 KMs of lines from one hill to another hill to connect two villages.
They erected huge mobile towers in remote villages and forests, on top of the hills and in the valleys.
The Boss sitting in AC room in Sanchar Bhavan or Bharat Sanchar Bhavan shouts at these people and say: “Get out if you don’t want to work…” The bosses should understand that there is a day for each of them too.
After sending out 50% of staff, the management is asking them to come back and work as “Commission Agents” under a scheme called BREAD! How many will bite this bread?
The heroes are coming out. Let us welcome them, the people who worked to the midst of those work for the welfare of pensioners.
THE JOURNEY DOES NOT END TODAY. IT TURNS TO A DIFFERENT DIRECTION.
.............................….PSR
The Delhi High Court has dismissed the appeals submitted by Department of Telecom and Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare etc. in the Pension Anomaly case originally filed by our Association. 8 Weeks times is given to the DoT to implement the order of CAT, Principal Bench dated 16th December 2016.
High Court judgement dated 24-1-2020 is given here: Please click on this link to see the judgement: delhi-hc-order-in-anomaly-case.pdf.
BSNL was formed on 1-10-2000. Three lakhs employees were enmasse absorbed in BSNL. About 4300 of them retired from service on superannuation between October 2000 and July 2001. They could not complete ten months' service in BSNL. Their pension was fixed at 50% of ten months average pay as per the extant rules. A portion of those 10 months fell in CDA pattern and another portion in IDA pattern of pay scales. This fixation created a serious anomaly. Those 4300 people got less pension than their juniors and their seniors as well. This matter was discussed by service unions for many years. No result.
Then, our Association took up the matter with DoT authorities. We submitted concreted proposals, based on precedence, to solve the problem. But, the adamant officers in DoT were not willing to listen.
Finally our Association filed and a case before CAT Principal bench in 2014. 13 Pensioners including Late Com. Chiddu Singh, Com. R L Kapoor of Delhi, Com. G R Dharmarajan of Madurai, Com. R Ranganathan of Chennai, Com V Ramachandran of Tirur etc. were individual petitioners in the Case. On 16th December 2016, CAT ordered that the anomaly should be removed by DoT. The method too was specified.
But Officers in DOT were not ready to settle the anomaly. They delayed the matter. Then we filed a Contempt of Court case. To avoid contempt, the Departments filed appeals in High Court of Delhi. Now, the High Court has dismissed the Appeals from Departments.
Good number of affected pensioners have already left this earth. Those living are 79 years or 80 years old.
WE hope that the Honourable minister for communications, Shri Ravi Shankr Prasad, a legal luminary himself , and the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji will not drag the old people to Supreme Court by filing unwanted Appeal. The CAT order should be implemented immediately. All consequential benefits should be granted to the affected pensioners alive and to the family pensioners of those who departed.
NO COLLECTION:
AIBSNLPWA has not collected a single paisa from any pensioner for this protracted legal fight. Original Case, Contempt of Court petition, Appeal in the High Court. On the other hand, members of our Legal Committee had spent lot of their time and energy to prepare the papers, running in hundreds of pages. We express our deep appreciation and thanks to late Com. Chhidu Singh, Com. D Gopalakrishnan, Com. R L Kapoor and Com. R H Mitkary for the efforts made.
for the Attention of District Secretaries:
There are 46 affected pensioners in Madurai (TN) SSA itself. Every DS of our association is requested to find out the pensioners who retired during the said period and inform them all.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL.
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Please click here to see the order: deferred-option-caee-bsnl-ortder-for-vrs-optees..pdf
Those who retired on 30, June should get the benefit of their next annual increment in the Pension and attendant benefits, if that increment falls on 1, July. Once again it is reiterated by the Madhya Pradesh High court.
Please click here to see the judgement: mp-hc-judgement-on-increment.pdf
NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Tuesday (today, 21-1-2020) agreed to hear the modification plea filed by telecom operators Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Teleservices on giving them more time to pay off adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related dues which total over Rs1 trillion. The deadline to pay off these dues is 23 January.
The development will allow telecom operators to negotiate a “sustainable payment schedule" for AGR dues. The Cellular Operators Association of India had earlier sought a 14-year period to pay off these dues.
The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde today, and the case is likely to be heard next week. The government, meanwhile, will not take any coercive action against telcos till the plea is heard.
(News in LIVEMINT)
The Dept. of Telecom has, finally, issued its first order on VRS pension. It contains the standard operating procedure to be followed by BSNL Circle Offices, CCA Offices, BSNL Corporate Office and DoT HQ. The procedure is very complicated. It is regarding payment of ex gratia only, Not related to pension and issuance of PPO. Let us wait for the reaction of Staff unions. ....PSR
A new branch of AIBSNLPWA is opened at Narsipatnam under Visakhapatnam SSA unit. Com. S V S N Murthy (DP, Vizag) and Com. K Somasundara Rao (DS, Vizag) attended the meeting. 40 pensioners have joined the branch. Comrades M Venkateswarlu, K Siva Prasada Rao and P Venkita Rao are elected as President, Secretary and Treasurer of the branch. CHQ welcomes the new branch and the comrades.
Large number of VRS in Bhavnagar, Gujarat have promised to join AIBSNLPWA in a special convention organized by NFTE there on 12-1-2020. Our leaders attended the meeting and reported the steps we have taken and we are taking to settle the issues of BSNL retirees.
Please click here: items-for-website.pdf
A new branch of our Association is opened in Shahjahanpur SSA of UP East Circle with Com. R P Kanaujia as President, Com. O P Verma as DS and Com. P N Ojha as the Treasurer.
CHQ welcomes the new branch and new members.
In some Circles the BSNL employees and Retirees were provided with WLL telephone connections as Rent free Residential Telephone connections because the normal landphone connections were not technically feasible. Some time in 2011, such WLL services were withdrawn in Haryana circle, followed by some other circles. Our Circle Unit in Haryana took up the case with the CGMT for GSM connections to such retirees. In 2013 the case was referred to our CHQ as the efforts at circle failed. Com. G Natarajan , the then GS took up the matter with Corporate Office. He met the Director (HR) Smt. Sujata Ray for the purpose several times and pursued. Director HR gave assurances repeatedly. But no formal order was issued. Now, on 3-01-2020 the BSNL CO has issued orders for providing GSM based connections to such staff and retirees residing in the Technically Non feasible areas. Concerned comrades may approach the authorities in the SSA;
Please click here to see the order:wll-gsm.jpg
OUR TRIBUTES
Today, we pay our respectful tributes to late Com. Om Prakash Gupta,
on the seventh anniversary of his death on 6th January, in 2013 at the age of 90 years.