GOVERNMENT FILES APPEAL AGAINST JUDGMENT ON MODIFIED PARITY IN PENSION

LEGAL BATTLE FOR JUSTICE CONTINUES FOR PENSIONERS

GOVERNMENT FILES APPEAL AGAINST PRINCIPAL CAT JUDGMENT ON MODIFIED PARITY IN PENSION

TO PRE 1.1.2006 PENSIONERS

The Government has filed an Appeal against the 1^ST November 2011 judgment of the Principal Bench of Delhi Central Administrative Tribunal onmodified parity in pension to the pensioners retired prior to 1.1.2006. You may remember that the Principal Bench of Delhi CAT had directed implementation of OM dated 1.9.2008 based on the Government's Resolution dated 29.08.2008 accepting the recommendation of 6^th CPC for modified parity of pension to pre 1.1.2006 pensioners by nullifying the clarificatory orders issued subsequently that denied the real content of the 6^th CPC recommendation as accepted earlier by the Union Cabinet through its Resolution dated 29.08.2008. However now the Government has filed an Appeal against the judgment of the CAT. The legal battle therefore is not over for the pensioners.

28.2.2012 Strike - News from West Bengal

WORKING  CLASS  AND  POSTAL  EMPLOYEES  OF  WEST  BENGAL  HELD  THE  FLAG  OF  STRIKE  HIGH : SERIES  OF  THREATS  AND ATTACKS  : CONDEMN  THROUGH  DEMONSTRATION  ON  2nd/3rd  MARCH  IN  ALL  DIVISIONS 

            

           The working class including our employees has entered a new era of struggle against the anti-people policies of Central Govt. through unique success in 28^th Feb,2012- strike. In West Bengal the State Govt and the Administration practically took drastic stand against the strike and measures to break strike by any means. Being encouraged the main ruling political forces also induced anarchism throughout the state. But the fact is that in spite of severe threats and mental pressure, the success of to-day’s strike is unprecedented.

            In our jurisdiction, truly speaking we are proud of our employees. We are really happy to convey our comradely greetings and Red Salute to the postal employees. It is mainly our brave comrades, organizers working in different branches/divisions in an alarming state of affairs and our general employees irrespective of unions took part in strike and made it a grand success. As per the official communiqué, 90% of the employees including GDS in out Circle  participated in strike directly. Com M Krishnan, our beloved Secretary General has also conveyed his congratulations and red salute to us.

          It is our experience that for last 4/5 days the ruling political force has been threatening the employees in work-spots and residences to open the Post Offices on 28-2-2012. In the last 30 to 35 years it is new phenomenon that the ruling party has perpetrated hooliganism against the Govt officials who supported the strike. Midnapore H.O., Siliguri H.O., Baruipur H.O., Chinsura H.O., Arambag H.O., Contai H.O., Malda H.O., Burdwan H.O., Purulia H.O. etc. are such examples where the concerned Postmasters were compelled to open the Post Offices under the pressure and threats. But even in these offices almost all the officials refused to attend the office and firmly took part in strike.

Role of Police :

      We are surprised to note that in case of Moynaguri S.O. under Jalpaiguri Dn, the Police behaved as like as ruling political forces. At the dictate of that force, the police rushed to the residence of striking Postmaster, picked him up and paved him to open the office . Here also the employees remained absent from office taking part in strike. Now the serious question is that whether the Police can act in such a manner as they did in Moynaguri. Obviously not. So what will be the future of law and order situation in our state ,we can easily guess. Almost same are the experiences we gathered in PSD Kolkata, Durgapur H.O., Belghoria H.O., Chakdah S.O., Nalikul S.O., Tarakeswar S.O., Mohanpur B.O. ( Contai Dn).

Political Hooliganism 1 :

           In Belghoria H.O. , when the Postmaster was attacked , Com Rina Saha our beloved leader came hurriedly from her house to rescue the Postmaster. We are shocked to mention that she was also attacked and hackled by the miscreants. Finally the office was opened , but neither Com Rina Saha nor concerned Postmaster deviated from their stand and took part in the strike. May be the restraint of Com Rina Saha has been hurt, but her unique role is encouraging to all of us.

Political Hooliganism 2 :

            In Tamluk Divn , 50/60 miscreants rushed to the residence of Com Jitendranath Hatai, President of P-III, Tamluk (NFPE). But at that time he was not available in his house, but other members including his wife and two daughters were available. Without caring the female members those miscreants broke the house of Com Hatai to take revenge only because Com Hatai took part in strike. Red salute to Com Hatai that even after this torture on him or his family , he refused to open Tamluk H.O. and finally, Tamluk H.O. was not opened. Same pressure was also to open Srirampore H.O., but it is our comrades and employees who did not bend down under tremendous pressure and finally kept Srirampore H.O. closed.

Circle Office :

          Yogayog Bhawan, our circle head quarters was opened , but except a few higher level officers, the staff of Yogayog Bhawan did not turn up and took part in strike spontaneously.

MMS/RMS/DPLI/PAO :

           In MMS/RMS, DPLI and Postal Accounts also most of the employees participated in the strike ignoring the threats.

Brave Comrades in far-flung areas :

           In Sikkim Division also, the strike was almost 100%.

The Assessment

           The alarming incidents we have faced today exposed the anti-working class as well as anti-democratic attitude of the ruling political forces in West Bengal. There are sufficient reasons to apprehend that this will be intensified. We, the working class have to prepare ourselves to fight against any kind of draconian attack.

            In respect of all India scenario we have received so far, the strike of the whole working class is a great success and the role postal employees have played to participate in the strike is historic one .We convey our heartiest greetings to Federations and JCA and to the general employees.

The Program in Condemnation :

           Protest against the above mentioned incidents in WB Circle. Hold massive demonstration (DHIKKAR SABHA) at recess hours on 01-03-2012 or 2-3-2012 at every work spots and send savingram to CPMG, Respective PMG and Head of the Divn.

Text of the Savingram

“APPROPRIATE STEPS TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE POLITICAL HOOLIGANISM FACED BY THE POSTAL EMPLOYEES IN CONNECTION WITH 28^th FEBRUARY 2012 STRIKE CALLED BY JCA AAA ALL CROSS SECTION OF THE POSTAL EMPLOYEES ARE VERY MUCH AGGRIEVED AAA ALSO DEMAND PREVENTIVE MEASURES.”

(President of the meeting)

NB: Divl Secretaries are requested to take the programme seriously and also requested to send a detailed report in respect of 28^th Strike to the each circle union within short period. All Divl/Br Secys are requested to bring these incidents to the notice of general members.

NORMAL LIFE DISTRUPTED IN KERALA

New Delhi: Normal life was disrupted in Kerala on Tuesday due to the country-wide strike called by central trade unions to protest the 'anti-labour' policies of the UPA government.

The roads of capital Thiruvanthapuram wore a deserted look. Buses and autos are not plying. The Oommen Chandy government has issued notice to government employees and threatened to deduct salary for those who abstain from work. The government has also warned that ad-hoc and temporary employees will lose their contract .

Buses kept off the roads and shops were closed in the state. The strike also affected functioning of banks and offices as pro-Left unions in the state sector also joined the protest against the "neo-liberal economic and labour policies" pursued by the UPA Government at the Centre.

The Congress-led UDF Government in the state has enforced 'dies non' (no work-no pay) order against the strike in government offices.

Early reports from across the state said in most places the mobility of people was hit as the impact of the strike was near total in the transport sector with buses, taxis and autorickshaws keeping off the road.

The rail traffic, however, was not affected and no blockade was reported from anywhere in the early hours. There was no disruption in electricity or water supply and the health sector exempted from the strike.

Labour leaders have claimed that the strike is going to be a historic event and a stern warning against "anti-labour policies" of the UPA Government.

The key demands of the unions include guarantee of labour rights, end to the contract labour system, bringing workers in the unorganized sector under the social security net and pension benefit for all workers.

Besides the Left unions like CITU and AITUC and HMS, the pro-Congress INTUC and pro-BJP BMS are also supporting the strike.

(With additional inputs from PTI)

From the Press

Postal, telecom services hit

Customer services in postal and telecom sector were affected on Tuesday with non-executive class of India Post and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) participating in the nationwide strike called by 11 central trade unions on Tuesday.

Customer services such as delivery and counter operations in post offices were affected in Bangalore East, Shimoga, Hassan, Belgaum and Raichur according to S.S. Manjunath Circle Secretary All India Postal Employees' Union (AIPEU).

He said that over 5,000 employees belonging to various trade unions abstained from work in protest against the anti-labour and anti-people policies of the Centre, thus affecting services.

The situation at the Customer Service Centres of BSNL was no different. People found it difficult to pay their bills and get their mobile phones recharged as 16,000 non-executive staff of BSNL abstained from work in support of CTU demands.

Speaking to The Hindu, C.K. Gundanna, Circle Secretary, BSNLEU, Karnataka Circle, said that over 16 trade unions to which non-executives of BSNL were affiliated participated in the strike, and counter services were completely disrupted.

Courtesy : Hindu 29.2.2012 Bangalore

28.2.2012 Historic Success - From the press

Bandh hits banking and postal service

Striking impact: Several nationalised banks either wore a deserted look with 


skeleton staff or were forced to down shutters owing to strike called by trade 


unions on Tuesday.

Striking impact: Several nationalised banks either wore a deserted look with skeleton staff or were forced to down shutters owing to strike called by trade unions on Tuesday.

Operations in most public sector banks were disrupted while postal and transport services were partially affected on Tuesday in the wake of general strike called by the Central trade unions.

Several industries around the city, including Ashok Leyland and T.I. Group, were also affected as employees stayed away.

With 15 bank unions, including All India Bank Employees Association and Bank Employees Federation of India, on the forefront of the strike call, branches of several public sector banks and some private banks remained closed owing to thin attendance of employees.

The strike was part of the nationwide bandh called by the unions against the hike in prices of essential commodities and the new pension scheme.

Trade unions held demonstrations across the city demanding setting up of a committee for unorganised workers, fixing of Rs.10,000 as minimum monthly wage and strict enforcement of labour laws.

Some customers, like 70-year-old D. Leela, who were unaware of the strike, returned home without carrying out their transaction. Ms. Leela, a resident of Kilpauk, said, “My pension gets credited in this bank and I do not know how to operate the ATM. I visit the bank only once or twice a month. I have to come again tomorrow to withdraw cash.” Many branches wore a deserted look as most of the clerical staff did not turn up for duty.

An official of a nationalised bank in Anna Nagar said, “We had intimated customers and put up notices in all branches asking them to complete their transactions before Tuesday to avoid inconvenience. We filled cash in the ATMs on Monday. But, cash cannot be replenished again as I need a clerical staff member to do the task with me.”

Daily operations of business people in the city were also affected. S. Lakshmi, a resident of Avadi, said, “I had transferred money through RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) from my branch to supplier's bank account three days ago. But it has not reached the supplier. I have to wait till tomorrow to credit the cash and also find out the status of earlier transaction.”

According to banks' trade unions, nearly 14,000 of 18,000 employees in the city participated in the strike. Staff of the Reserve Bank of India and the insurance sector also took part in the bandh.

C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary of All India Bank Employees' Association, said: “Cash and cheque clearing operations were affected in many banks in Chennai. We are against banking reforms, outsourcing of permanent jobs and privatisation.”

Members of three unions — All India Bank Officers' Confederation, Indian National Bank Officers Congress and National Union of Bank Employees — refrained from the strike.

Postal services too were hit as many customers avoided post offices fearing low attendance. While head post offices had sufficient staff members with only 20 per cent remaining off duty, the smaller ones were affected by the strike. J. Srivenkatesh, Circle president, All India Postal Employees' Union, Tamil Nadu Circle, said that nearly 4,000 postal employees participated in the strike. Of the nearly 220 post offices in Chennai and suburbs, about 190 did not have full-fledged operations. As postmen were not available, delivery of letters and speed posts were hit.

Residents who went to tahsildar's offices in the suburbs, such as Ambattur, also returned disappointed as there were not sufficient personnel to provide pattas or legal heir certificates.

Commuters, however, managed to travel to their destinations as more than half of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses and autorickshaws plied. M.V. Krishnan, vice-president of Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Chennai district, said nearly 40 per cent of the MTC buses and auto rickshaws were not operated.

Courtesy: Hindu 29.2.2012          

All trade unions to strike work on Tuesday

To protest the fallout of liberalisation policy

In an unprecedented show of unity, all trade unions in the country have come together on the same platform and given a call for a general strike on February 28.

This is the first time since Independence that trade unions, cutting across ideological and political affiliations, have joined hands to register their protest on a wide range of issues arising out of the liberalisation policy.

“The liberalisation and new economic policies unveiled since 1991 have undermined the interests of workers to such an extent that trade unions representing the Left, Right and Centrist parties have been forced to come together. Such unity was not witnessed even during or after Emergency,” All India Trade Union Congress general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta told The Hindu.

Workers of all 11 recognised unions (to be recognised, a union has to have four lakh members) and 5,000 un-affiliated unions will strike work, affecting banking, postal, port and government operations.

The unions have come together on a five-point charter, which seeks strict enforcement of all basic labour laws without any exception or exemption and stringent punitive measures for violation; a universal social security cover for unorganised sector workers without any restriction and creation of a National Social Security Fund.

According to the convener of the coordinating committee of the unions and president of the Congress-affiliated INTUC, G. Sanjeeva Reddy, and CITU general secretary Tapan Sen, things have come to such a pass in some States that even registration of new trade unions is not being allowed.

The charter seeks stoppage of disinvestment in profit-making Central and State public sector units. Disinvestment is paving the way for privatisation of the PSUs, say the unions.

The trade unions want the government to step in against contractorisation of permanent/perennial work, and payment of wages and benefits to contract workers at the same rate as are available to regular workers. Other demands include amendment of the Minimum Wages Act to ensure universal coverage, irrespective of the schedules, and fixation of the statutory minimum wage at not less than Rs. 10,000, removal of all ceilings on payment of and eligibility for bonus, Provident Fund, increase in the quantum of gratuity and assured pension for all.

Mr. Gupta said that despite several representations in the last few months, the government was unmoved on the major concerns of the working people.

At the annual Indian Labour Conference on February 14 and 15, in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he articulated most of the demands and conveyed to him why workers were compelled to take recourse to a strike. However, there was no response from either Dr. Singh or the Labour Minister.

Courtesy : Hindu 27.2.2012

THE BIGGEST HISTORIC JOINT STRIKE OF INDIAN WORKING CLASS ON 28.02.2012

MORE THAN 20 CRORES ORGANISED AND UNORGANISED WORKERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE STRIKE

CENTRAL GOVT. EMPLOYEES ALSO JOIN THE STRIKE AS PER THE CALL GIVEN BY CONFEDERATION OF CENTRAL GOVT. EMPLOYEES AND WORKERS

FIVE LAKHS POSTAL AND RMS EMPLOYEES INCLUDING GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE STRIKE UNDER THE BANNER OF POSTAL JOINT COUNCIL OF ACTION (NFPE, FNPO, AIPEDEU, NUGDS)

THIS HISTORIC STRIKE IS A GLORIOUS FIGHT AGAINST THE IMPERIALIST GLOBALISATION POLICIES OF THE GOVT. OF INDIA

THIS HISTORIC STRIKE IS A FIGHT TO PROTECT THE INTEREST TO THE PEOPLE AND WORKING CLASS OF OUR COUNTRY.

POSTAL EMPLOYEES ARE JOINING THIS STRIKE TO PROTECT THE INDIAPOST AND FIVE LAKHS EMPLOYEES

THIS STRIKE IS TO PROTECT OUR HARD-EARNED RIGHTS INCLUDING STATUTORY PENSION

THIS IS THE GREATEST PATRIOTIC STRUGGLE OF INDIAN WORKING CLASS

BE PROUD TO JOIN THIS STRIKE * BE PROUD TO JOIN THE MAINSTREAM OF THE INDIAN WORKING CLASS

ENSURE 100% PARTICIPATION OF ALL POSTAL AND RMS EMPLOYEES INCLUDING GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS.

LET US SAY IN ONE VOICE

“WORKING CLASS UNITY ZINDABAD”

“DOWN WITH IMPERIALIST GLOBALISATION POLICIES”

RTI Queries Don't Affect Govt. Work

RTI Queries Don't Affect Govt. Work The time spent by government officials replying to RTI is so little that it cannot be a pretext for them to shirk that task In August 2011, the Supreme Court made an observation which had some unintended consequences on the Right to Information (RTI) process. The judgement by Justice R.V. Raveendran is turning out to be a seemingly legitimate excuse for government officials to restrict information. Aditya Bandopadhyay went to court when the Central Board of Secondary Education declined to provide his examination answer sheets under the RTI Act. While the court allowed access to answer sheets, it also observed that the cherished right to information should not affect administrative efficiency. In his judgement, Justice R.V. Raveendran said: “The nation does not want a scenario where 75 percent of the staff of public authorities spends 75 percent of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties. The threat of penalties under the RTI Act and the pressure of the authorities under the RTI Act should not lead to employees of public authorities prioritising information furnishing at the cost of their normal and regular duties.” Government officials are now using this excuse with increasing frequency saying that even the court agrees. Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi says 75 percent government staff spending 75 percent of their time on giving information would mean 56 percent (0.75 X 0.75) of their total time spent only on replying to RTI queries. Gandhi says that at the most optimistic estimate not more than one crore RTI applications are likely to be received by all public authorities across the country in 2012. The average time to attend to each would be less than three hours. That means no more than three crore hours spent by all officials.  Assuming that an average government employee works for just six hours a day for 200 days a year, it would mean he would work for a total of 1,200 hours in a year. That means 25,000 (3 crore divided by 1,200) employees would be required full time. The Centre and all state governments have about 1.2 crore employees. So, the total time spent by government employees on replying to RTI queries would be 0.208 percent (25,000 divided by 12,000,000). In other words, no more than 4.6 percent officials are spending 4.6 percent of their time on giving information. This is based on conservative assumptions. Surely, government officials work for more than six hours a day! Doesn’t look like they have much space to hide.

Children Education Allowance - Clarifications

Working Class Prepares for Historic General Strike

Working Class Prepares for Historic General Strike

A K Padmanabhan

THE working people of our country have by now in full gear to go on a one-day historic general strike on February 28. All sections of Indian workers, in every corner of the country, have been preparing for this united action for the last three months.

HISTORIC OCCASION

The decision to go on a day’s strike, as is well known, was taken in a national convention of central trade unions and industrial federations in New Delhi on September 7, 2011. On that day, all the central trade unions recognised by the government of India came to a joint platform for the first time in the history of independent India, to announce a day’s general strike. This was to press for an agreed charter of demands which covered policy issues as well as immediate demands of workers, both in the organised and unorganised sectors.

 This call was fully endorsed by independent federations of those working in various sectors, like state and central government employees and teachers, bank and insurance employees, defence production, telecommunication, petroleum and natural gas, electricity employees etc.

 All these organisations began vigorous preparations during December 2011. Joint meetings and campaigns began by the end of that month.

 Central leaders of all trade union organisations went to various state centres and also attended sectorial meetings at the national level in order to prepare for the strike.

 A meeting at Mumbai on December 30 saw the national and also state level leaders of central trade unions planning joint initiatives. When approached, leaders of Bharatiya Kamgar Sena also participated. Various sections of employees and workers joined the meeting.

 STATE LEVEL CONVENTIONS

The series of state level conventions began with a successful and massive convention in Hyderabad on January 5, with more than 2500 representatives from all over the state attending it.

 Dr Sanjeeva Reddy (president, INTUC), B N Rai (general secretary, BMS), Gurudas Dasgupta (general secretary, AITUC), Tapan Sen (general secretary, CITU) and other central leaders along with state leaders addressed the convention. Leaders of the Telugunadu Trade Union Council (TNTUC) also attended.

January 9 saw an open air massive convention of all sections of workers in Kolkata, calling upon the workers of West Bengal to make the proposed strike a big success. National and state leaders of all central trade unions attended the convention.

 In Kerala, a massive convention was organised on January 17, in which 18 organisations, central trade unions and various state level organisations, were represented. Addressing the convention, state leaders of these organisations approved a detailed programme of campaigns all over the state, and also sectoral programmes. These included district conventions, dharnas, vehicle jathas etc.

 A mass meeting at Kochi on February 1 was addressed by central leaders including Gurudas Dasgupta (AITUC), Saji Narayan (BMS), A K Padmanabhan (CITU), Chandrasekhar (INTUC) and others.

State level conventions were also held in Haryana, Maharashtra, Orissa, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Tamilnadu. All these conventions were well attended, with national and state level trade union leaders addressing them.

Reports received from various states showed that district and regional or local level conventions were also being organised in every part of the country, and that workers from various unions are participating therein with much enthusiasm.

 SECTORAL PREPARATIONS

One important development is that huge preparations had been going on at sectoral level.

The central trade unions organised a convention of central public sector unions at Bangalore on January 13, and it evoked response from unions all over the country. This was the first time that such a convention was organised by all central trade unions. Among those who addressed were Dr Sanjeeva Reddy, B N Rai, Gurudas Dasgupta, Tapan Sen, R A Mittal (HMS) and M Shanmugan (LPF), apart from leaders of the Joint Action Forum of Bangalore PSUs and Coordination Committee of Hyderabad PSUs. 

The convention adopted a declaration, calling for massive participation of PSU workers in the strike. It was circulated among PSU workers in large numbers.

This successful initiative prompted various unions in PSUs, like coal, petroleum and natural gas, NTPC, powergrid, telecom, etc, to come together and issue joint appeals. These were signed by national leaders of industrial federations or representatives in the national level negotiating bodies.

A national convention of workers of oil and natural gas PSUs was held in Delhi on February 4. It was organised by All India Petroleum Workers Federation, National Federation of Petroleum Workers, and Petroleum and Gas Workers Federation of India. These unions served a joint strike notice on the managements of all oil and gas PSUs. Countrywide campaigns were planned.

 All the five federations in the port and dock sector, including those led by the HMS, CITU, INTUC and AITUC, issued a joint statement. Joint preparations for the success of the February 28 strike followed.

Leaders of national federations in public as well as private road transport sectors met at New Delhi and issued a joint statement. Regional and zonal level preparations are also made.

In the defence production sector, AIDEF, INTUC and BMS affiliated federations were jointly organising campaigns all over the country for the success of the strike.

 In the telecom sector, all the workers’ and employees’ unions including the BSNLEU, NFTE and FNTO came together to plan countrywide campaigns to make the strike complete.

Sectoral conventions and meetings were also held in various states. In Kerala, a massive convention of unions in central and state PSUs was held at Kochi on February 2, where state level campaigns were planned. Similar campaigns were planned in other states also.

 As has been the practice, all unions in the banking and insurance sector will participate in the strike en masse. Countrywide campaign meetings were held in these sectors.

Held at Hissar in December, the national conference of the All India State Government Employees’ Federation, the largest organisation of state government employees in the country, unanimously decided to participate in the strike. Its leadership at all levels has been making all necessary preparations for a successful strike.

The Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers, representing all sections of central government employees including postal employees, has also called for turning the strike into a massive action of protest. The confederation leadership chalked out a countrywide tour programme for the campaign to ensure that the message and demands of the strike were taken down to the central government employees at all levels.

The recent united struggle of postal employees against the threat of closure of RMS and post offices in the country achieved success when the government was forced to give a written assurance not to close any office for the next three years at least, due to which the proposed indefinite strike was withdrawn. Now the postal employees’ unions are fully involved in preparations for the success of the February 28 all-India general strike. Leaderships of the NFPE, FNPO and GDS unions jointly went on a countrywide campaign among the postal employees to ensure complete strike in the postal department.

A meeting of unions in the Southern Railway, including the DREU (CITU), SRES (INTUC), DRKS (BMS), AISMA, AILRSA, SRLU, SREF and others, conducted a campaign in the divisional headquarters in the zone and also among the passengers to explain the demands. Demonstrations will be held in all the divisional centres on February 28, and all workers will wear badges on the day.

Apart from posters, millions of handbills have already been circulated and more are being brought out. Wall writings are going on in various parts of the country..

Thus, with reports still pouring in from different states about the massive ongoing preparations for the strike, one may be pretty sure that the strike on February 28 will see an unprecedented participation, that men and women workers in the country will make it a historic one in all aspects. Firmly united, the working class is on the move and will be out in the streets to challenge the policies of the ruling classes.

SB Orders No. 01 & 02/2012

General Secretary’s Desk

One Day Strike on 28.02.2012

The call for Nationwide industrial action on 28.02.2012 organised by all the 15 Central Trade Unions including INTUC, AITUC, CITU, BMS, HMS etc. is the last option since all their avenues of protest like dharnas, demonstrations, rallies and finally the Jail Bharo Programmes besides raising the issues relating to labour and common people at various forums yielded no results. It is rather found that labour was becoming an unwanted agenda for the Governments.

The Postal JCA after long discussions called upon all the Postal workers to join the strike and save the nation and protect the labour from neo economic policies adopted at the centre. The strike notice was served to the department on 10.02.2012.

All Branch/Divisional/Circle Secretaries are requested to organize the workers by holding meetings at various work spots and ensure 100% participation in the ensuing 28.02.2012 strike.

Puri Workshop – An Historic Success

The workshop organized by the CHQ at Puri from 04.02.2012 to 05.02.2012 ended with resounding success. The aim for which it was convened has been fulfilled and in the examination held among the participants, many secured very good percentage which exhibits the success of the workshop. Full details of the workshop is being published in the Website/Bhartiya Post. The valuated answer sheet has been despatched to all the participants respectively.

Let us convene our next workshop shortly. The willing circle to host the next workshop may please be come forward immediately in order to organize the next workshop either in the month of July or August 2012.

Central Working Committee Meeting – Patna

It is decided to hold the next Central Working Committee Meeting of our union at Patna from 10.04.2012 to 11.04.2012, All CHQ office bearers are requested to book their tickets well in advance. Formal notice will be despatched to them after the finalization of venue and agenda.

JCM Departmental Council

JCM Departmental Council was held on 10.02.2012 and 49 new subjects were discussed. Earlier on 02.02.2012, the standing committee was held to discuss about the pending issues placed in the JCM meeting. The minutes of both the meetings will be published after its receipt. The demands already placed for discussions in the meeting but discussed during strike charters were not discussed again. The Secretary assured that all the items discussed and decided earlier will be finalized at the earliest possible.

System Administrators case – Separate cadre

The case was again discussed in the standing committee meeting of the Departmental Council held on 02.02.2012. It was informed that further action on this case will be taken after finalization of the proposal of the cadre Review committee. However the Member (Personnel) reiterated that creation of a separate cadre may not be feasible. She explained that there will be a limited chance for ‘System Administrators’ further promotion in a separate cadre and further DOP&T may insist on direct recruitment only. The chance for absorption of the existing system administrators will also be remote as separate qualification etc will be fixed for the post. In short the Postal Board is not in favour of creation of separate cadre. Our demand for separate cadre is also not rejected. A final decision will be taken only after the finalisation of the proposals by the Cadre review committee in which we are demanding the formation of System Assistant Posts with further promotional avenues.

GDS Protection of TRCA

In order to implement the assurances of Hon’ble State Minister of communication to Staff side on 20.01.2012, Postal Board constituted a committee of officers to examine the GDS cases including cash handling norms remittances from BO to AO etc for brought under norms, protection of TRCA etc under the chairmanship of Sri. V. P. Singh DDG (Establishment). The Committee will submit its report within a month.

Committee on Casual labourers problems

Member (Personnel) informed that the committed on Casual Labourers problems headed by Assam Chief PMG has submitted its report and it is under examination by the Directorate. The staff side has also submitted its suggestions on casual labourers. It was assured that a decision will be arrived within one month.

Clear Quota, Bhartiya Post Dues & Publications

Many divisions are still keeping dues and not clearing the full Quota, Dues on journals and publications. The two financial years for determination of delegates will end on 31.03.2012. All Branch/Divisional Secretaries are requested to clear the Quota, and all dues forthwith without  inviting reminders.

Hand Book 2012

Many divisions/branches have not indented Hand Book 2012 and the CHQ has sent only one copy to them. It is needless to say that it should be supplied to all new entrants as well as all office bearers atleast. Branch/Divisional Secretaries are requested to kindly make required indent immediately.

Let us meet in the next and till then with greetings,

Comradely yours,

K. V. Sridharan

General Secretary