MTNL retirees are also getting pension from government of India directly under rule 37. Hence, they too demand pension revision. A welcome feature is that all the leaders of MTNL staff Unions of Mumbai and Delhi and the Retired Officers Welfare Association of Delhi are united in demanding the pension revision with the fitment formula suggested by seventh Central Pay Commission.

On 22-3-2018, Sri Arvind Sawant MP of Shiv Sena, the founder leader of MTNL Kamgar Union of Mumbai, met Shri Manoj Sinha, Honourable minister for communications and discussed the issues of pay revision and pension revision in MTNL.

On 23-3-2018, on a directive from the minister, Smt. Aruna Sundararajan ITS, Secretary Telecom met leaders of MTNL staff union leaders of Mumbai and Delhi and the leaders of RTOWA Delhi. Of course, the main issue discussed was PAY revision in MTNL.

At the end, all the leaders unitedly raised the issue of Pension Revision, based on the report of Seventh CPC. According to Com. S S Nanda, GS of RTOWA Delhi, the Secretary was positive and assured favourable action in the matter.

We hail the correct stand taken by leaders of MTNL staff Unions of Mumbai and Delhi in demanding pension revision for MTNL retirees based on Seventh CPC report in unison with our demand. Our Shimoga comrades met the minister on 24-3-2018 and placed the same demand.

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Today, a team of Shimoga members of AIBSNLPWA, led by Com. K K Ganapathy (District President) and Com. G S Ajjappa (District Secretary) met Shri Manoj Sinhaji, Minister for Communications, at Shivmogga and submitted a memorandum reiterating our demand for pension revision with effect from 1-1-2017 with fitment benefits recommended by Seventh Central Pay Commission.

The Minister informed the delegation that he is quite aware of the issue and it is under active consideration of the DoT. He assured a positive approach towards the matter.

[In the photos above: Com. Ajjappa, DS with white shirt discussing the issue with the Minister)

We congratulate our Shimoga comrades and Karnataka leaders .... PSR

Observing that a plethora of instructions issued by the central government on granting pension created confusion among retired government officials, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked it to frame a law to regulate the retirement benefit. A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said the government had no clarity on how to fix the pension amount and retired officials had to suffer. The apex court passed the remarks while deciding the plea of a retired railway employee who is fighting a legal battle 27 years after his retirement on fixation of his pension amount.

The Supreme Court finally decided against the retired official but asked the central government to take steps to prevent pension woes of retired officials.

“We recommend to the department of personnel and training of the government of India to try and make life after retirement easier for a government servant by having appropriate legislation enacted by Parliament or applicable pension rules rather than a ‘khichdi’ of instructions, office memoranda, clarifications, corrigenda and so on and so forth,” said the apex court bench.

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NEWS:The Supreme Court questioned the Centre on Wednesday (21-3-2018) about its decision to link Aadhaar with pensions, reasoning that it is not a subsidy but an entitlement of a person for years of service he or she has rendered to the government in discharge of official duties.

Referring to the argument of petitioners that many pensioners have been denied their only subsistence in old age due to technical and physical reasons, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan asked attorney general K K Venugopal whether the Centre was going to deny pension, a rightful entitlement, just for want of Aadhaar. Venugopal said Aadhaar has been instrumental in eliminating many bogus pensioners drawing post-retirement benefits for years.

IT IS A FRESH BRUTAL ATTACK ON WORKING CLASS BY THE GOVERNMENT. GOVERNMENT HAS NOTIFIED SIGNIFICANT AMENDMENTS TO THE INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT CENTRAL RULES 1946 EXTENDING THE SCHEME OF FIXED TERM EMPLOYMENT TO ALL SECTORS. CENTRAL TRADE UNIONS COULD STOP SUCH MOVES IN THE PAST THROUGH JOINT OPPOSITION. NOW THE GOVERNMENT, WITHOUT MINDING THE OPPOSITION, HAS COME OUT WITH THE CHANGES.

BMS HAS OPPOSED THE MOVE. (please see its statement given below).

BUT BMS, THOUGH IN SANGH PARIVAR, HAS NO ROLE IN POLICY MAKING. IT RAISES TEETHLESS OPPOSITION LIKE MAKING STATEMENTS. THE NET RESULT OF THESE CHANGES IS THAT THE WORKERS WHO WILL GET SOME JOB IN INDIAN INDUSTRY WILL BE DENIED PENSION AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS. AND FULL FREEDOM TO THE EMPLOYERS TO HIRE AND FIRE.

Statement by BMS leadership

RSS- affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) today criticised the government for extending fixed term employment to all sector, saying this will legalise hire and fire, while permanent jobs would vanish.

"Government should immediately withdraw the controversial new notification on 'fixed term employment' which extends it to all employments in the country," said Saji Narayanan C K, President, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh in a statement.

The BMS said that by this notification that amends the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946, permanent employment will vanish from the industrial sector and all jobs will be converted into temporary contract works for a fixed period only.

The union said, "It is also highly objectionable that a fixed term contract can be cancelled by the employer unilaterally by giving only two weeks' notice. None of the objections raised by the BMS was accepted by the Government. ..

AIBSNLPWA has written a letter to Director (HR) against the proposal to discontinue the Quarterly Medical Allowance to pensioners and to curtail the entitlement under BSNLMRS. See the letter:letter-to-dir-hr-on-mrs.pdf

We are going to Puri (Jagannath Puri) in Odisha for the next All India Conference. Odisha comrades have suggested 22-23 September 2018 as probable dates. Ensuing CWC meeting on 16-17, April in Chennai will finalize the dates. Before that, Odisha comrades will form Reception Committee and start the work. Odisha is comparatively a small circle unit with only 1500 members in total. Such a small circle has come forward to host the AIC of the largest organization of BSNL pensioners in India.

It is possible only with the willing involvement of all members in the country. Every member of our Association, Life member or annual member, is requested to donate Rs 50 towards AIC fund. It should be remitted to CHQ by branches. CHQ will hand over the amount so received to the Odisha Reception Committee. Some branches have already remitted the donation. List of donations received up to 20-3-2018 by CHQ is given below:

Gurgaon: Rs. 4000

Bhandara: Rs. 400.

Fatehpur:Rs. 600

Balaghat : Rs. 3900

West Godavari : Rs. 6000

Kurnool: Rs. 10000

Malappuram :Rs. 6000.00

Jhansi:Rs. 2600

Lakhimpur : Rs. 800

Varanasi: Rs. 2750

Lucknow: Rs. 1050

Pratapgargh: Rs. 1300

Salem East: Rs. 19100

Vellore: Rs. 20000

Late Com. Hariharan of Chennai: Rs. 5000

Smt. Akhilandeswari of Chennai: Rs 10000

All other branches are requested to collect it when the pension of March 2018 is disbursed and remit the amount to CHQ before 30, April 2018. If collection is not completed, please transfer the amount from District unit’s funds and then continue the collection.

Start preparation to meet at Puri and go ahead. PURI AIC will be another milestone in our path.

……P S Ramankutty, President.

THE ALL INDIA CONFERENCE OF NFTE-BSNL HELD AT AMRITSAR FROM 16-3-2018 TO 19-3-2018 HAS RE-ELECTED COM. ISLAM AHMED AND COM. CHANDESHWAR SINGH AS THE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL SECRETARY.

OUR CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW TEAM OF LEADERSHIP OF NFTE.

Jharkhand CWC meeting was held at Dhanbad on 18-3-2018.

CIRCLE CONFERENCE OF UP EAST WAS HELD ON 16-3-2018 IN GANDHI BHAVAN, LUCKNOW. COM. G NATARAJAN (GS) AND COM. T S VITTOBAN (TREASURER) PARTICIPATED IT ON BEHALF OF CHQ AND EXPLAINED VARIOUS ISSUES.

COMRADES MAHATMA PATHAK, J N DUBEY AND DHANI RAM ARE ELECTED AS CIRCLE PRESIDENT, CIRCLE SECRETARY AND TREASURER RESPECTIVELY.

District Executive Meeting of Krishna ,Vijayawada held on 14-03-2018. Com K.V.Subrahmanyam DGM Retired Vijayawada is elected as District Secretary. Com N.S.Sarma, the veteran leader and longtime district secretary of the SSA Unit has tendered his resignation due to his personal reasons. Com NRK Murthy District President presided. Circle President Com M.R.S.Prakasa Rao and Circle Secretary Com V Vara Prasad have attended. Com K K R N Purnachandra Rao and Com Mallisetti Janardhana Rao have also shared the dias.

BSNL Management has written a letter to the recognized Unions proposing a change in the method for membership verification of Unions. Management wants to change the method of Secret Ballot to the check off system. Paper organizations taking shelter under the wings of big organizations and enjoying fruits will be affected.

BSNL IS THE NUMBER ONE LOSS MAKING PSE

The Department of Public Enterprises has released its official Public Enterprises Survey for the year of 2016-2017. According to the Survey Report, BSNL stands out at the top of Loss making PSUs in India.

Five top profit making PSEs are:

1) Indian Oil Corporation: Profit of Rs. 19106 crore

2) ONGC: Profit of Rs. 17900 crore

3) Coal India: Profit of Rs. 14501 crore

4) NTPC: Profit of Rs. 9385 crore

5) Bharat Petroleum: Profit of Rs. 8039 crore.

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Five top Loss making Profit PSEs are:

1) BSNL : Loss of Rs. 4793 crore

2) Air India: Loss of Rs. 3952 crore

3) MTNL : Loss of Rs. 2941 crore

4) Hindustan Photos & Films: Loss of Rs. 2917 crore

5) Steel Authority of India: Loss of Rs. 2833 crore.

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The Survey gives lot of details. According to the figures, the BSNL had earned revenue of Rs 32411.32 cr. in 2015-2016. It came down to Rs. 31533.44 cr. in 2016-2017.

The Profit/Loss Before Tax of BSNL was Rs. (-) 4859.16 cr. during 2015-2016

and Rs (-) 4793.21 Cr. during 2016-2017. (There is some improvement) .

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Whereas, the MTNL has increased its Loss before Tax:

It was Rs. (-) 2755.76 cr. during 2015-2016 and increased to Rs (-) 2945.46 cr. during 2016-2017.

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Mr. Stephen Hawking, the brilliant British theoretical physicist who overcame a debilitating disease to publish wildly popular books probing the mysteries of the universe, has died, according to a family spokesman. He was 76.

Considered by many to be the world's greatest living scientist, Hawking was also a cosmologist, astronomer, mathematician and author of numerous books including the landmark "A Brief History of Time," which has sold more than 10 million copies.

Hawking suffered from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a neurodegenerative disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, which is usually fatal within a few years. He was diagnosed in 1963, when he was 21, and doctors initially only gave him a few years to live. But he lived a wonderful life 55 years more than the doctors predicted.

We had published a brief note on the wonderful man in Pensioners Patrika some time back.

We pay our respectful tributes to the great human being who was a source of inspirtion for lakhs of people the world over.

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FARMERS OF MAHARASTRA DID IT. THE LONG MARCH ORGANISED BY FARMERS OF MAHARASTRA FROM NASHIK TO MUMBAI BECAME A GREAT SUCESS. GOVERFNMENT ACCEPTED MOST OF THEIR DEMANDS.

Saroor Nagar branch having 479 members is the biggest branch of our Hyderabad District Unit which has more than 1650 members now.

Saroor Nagar branch held a special general body meeting on 12-3-2018. Com. DG, Vice President attended the meeting and spoke in detail on various issues and our efforts to settle them.

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Kindly refer to my postings in the whatsapp and photos as well about the special conference held at Thanjavur on 10-3-2018. Thanjavur district unit of AIBSNLPWA led by Com. V Swaminathan, Com. A K Dhanapalan etc. is holding special meetings every year to observe the International Womens Day. Since the suitable hall was not available on 8-3-2018 it was held on 10-3-2018. Even the big hall could not accommodate all the participants. More than 525 members, including more than 200 ladies, attended the conference this time.

At the outset, members whose birth days fell in the month of March were felicitated as being done in every monthly meeting.

Eminent women from various walks of life like S/s Vedanayaki, Manjula, Arul Selvi, Thangam Xavier, Burnella Divine Mary Joseph, Anbu, Jamuna Venkataraman and Udhaya Meenakshi spoke on different topics concerning women. Smt. T N Latha presided over the conference addressed by Smt. Chandrakumari, DGM BSNL Thanjavur and welcomed by Smt Mallika Sugumaran.

Shri C V Vinoth ITS, the PGMT of Thanjavur – an officer exceptionally humane in approach, attitude and action, was the Chief Guest. He spoke very nicely.

Com. P S Ramankutty, All India President, delivered a special speech on status of Women in India quoting several instances where the status of women is being eroded in our country.

Com. K Muthiyalu, Circle Secretary of Tamilnadu also greeted the special conference.

In the afternoon, Com. Ramankutty and Com. Muthiyalu spoke elaborately on the issues concerning BSNL pensioners, the activities of our association and the task before us. Senior leaders of Thanjavur like Comrades K S Krishnamurthy, V Swaminathan, A K Dhanapalan, Santhanagopalan, C V Thangaiyan also addressed the meeting.

Guests were fondly felicitated. Every woman attended the conference was given a shawl and every man was given a bag. Traditional Thanjavur feast given to all participants was another feature.

I was happy to note that Thanjavur district Unit has a well equipped office with 300 chairs, almirahs etc. etc.

I congratulate the Thanjavur Team for their fantastic work...... P S Ramankutty

Shri C V Vinoth ITS, PGMT Thanjavur

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Representing AIBSNLPWA, Comrades D Gopalakrishnan (Vice President), G Natarajan (GS), P Gangadhara Rao (Dy GS), Anupam Kaul (AGS) and R Changappa ( CS Karnataka) met Shri Ananthkumar, Honourable Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in New Delhi on 7-3-2018. On his directive the leaders then met Smt. Aruna Sundara Rajan IAS, Secretary Telecom in her office same day. DDG (Estt), DDG (PSU), and Director (PSU) were also present during the discussion. After handing over a letter for pension revision with 32% fitment benefit, as recommended by the Seventh Central Pay Commission, our leaders explained the rationale behind the demand and recalled the earlier meeting with her on 8-11-2017. Our leaders clarified certain doubts. The Secretary was able to understand our demand.

Our leaders have gained an impression that there is a positive change in the attitude of top officers in DoT. Let us hope for the best.

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MARCH 8 IS OBSERVED AS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY WORLD OVER.

ON THIS OCCASION WE GREET OUR WOMEN MEMBERS AND

SEEK THEIR BETTER PARTICIPATION IN THE ACTIVITIES OF ASSOCIATION.

A rally by women on IWD in London

a Rally by Anganwadi teachers in India

Once these women were powerful wives or proud mothers in rich families.

AIBSNLPWA Convention at Thanjavur on 8-3-2017