CMD Address in Open Session on 25th Aug

Shri Anupam Shrivastav, CMD BSNL addressing the gathering of Joint Open Session of AIBSNLEA & AIGETOA at Kolkata on 25th Aug

Shri Anupam Shrivastav addressing the gathering of Joint Open Session of AIBSNLEA & AIGETOA at Kolkata on 25th Aug:

Photos of Open Session addressed by CMD BSNL. Click here

Joint Open Session of the AIBSNLEA and AIGETOA on the occasion of CWC meet of AIBSNLEA & Annual G B Meeting of AIGETOA was held on 25.8.2015 at 15.00 hours in the at Phani Bhusan Vidya Vinod Manch at Kolkata The function was commenced with an inaugural song by the local members.

Shri Prasunkumar Mukhopadhay on behalf of the Kolkata Telephone AIBSNLEA welcomed one and all and invited the dignitaries on the dias.

The dignitaries on the dias Hon’ble Chief Guest Shri Anupam Srivastava, CMD, BSNL New Delhi, Guest of Honors, Shri N K Gupta, Director(CFA), BSNL Board, New Delhi, Shri Shameem Akhtar, Sr. GM (SR), BSNLCO, New Delhi, Shri Kishore Kumar, CGM, BSNL, West Bengal Telecom Circle, Shri Amit Kumar Bhattacharya, CGM, BSNL, Kolkata Telecom. District, Shri Murthy, CGM ETP, Shri Raj Hans, CGM Telecom. Store and Telecom Factory, Shri P. Venugopal, President, AIBSNLEA CHQ, Shri Prahlad Rai, General Secretary, AIBSNLEA, Shri Ravi Shil Verma, President, AIGETOA CHQ Shri R P Shahu, General Secretary, AIGETOA, Shri A.K. Kaushik, General Secretary, TEAM. Shri Saibal Sen Gupta, Convenor, Joint Forum, Kolkata, Shri Amit Kumar Gupta, AGS, AIRBSNLEWA and were felicitated by CS, Kolkata Telecom. District, by presenting with Bouquets and Mementos.

The function commenced by lighting the lamp by Shri Anupam Shrivastava, CMD, BSNL, New Delhi and Shri N.K. Gupta, Director (CFA) in the presence other dignitaries.

Shri P Venugopal, President CHQ AIBSNLEA welcomed all the dignitaries on dias. In his speech he expressed that night free call and roaming free mobile services are the major gift by the present BSNL board to its valuable customers. He mentioned that due to the shortage of time, he do not wish to elaborate the HR issues and expected that the present CMD will take care of all the HR issues. He mentioned that few issues like CPSU cadre hierarchy, E2 and E3 pay scales, seniority issue, 78.2% IDA merger and benefit to the pensioners, CPCs of various cadres, etc are the major burning issues of the executives. He also mentioned that the looking after arrangement which do not have any power to the officers will have to be dispensed with and old system of officiating method during the short period vacancy be introduced. He also stated that both AIBSNLEA and AIGETOA will safeguard the interest of BSNL.

Shri Prahlad Rai, GS AIBSNLEA CHQ thanked the dignitaries on the dias for attending the open session. GS in his speech informed that the Central Working Committee Meeting of All India Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Executives’ Association being held here in Kolkata city of joy which is one of the historical city in India. He mentioned that CMD BSNL was to attend a function of TRAI as nominated by the MoC today and in order to fulfill the commitment given by the CMD to attend the open session, CMD has requested the MoC to exempt him from attending the function and accordingly MoC has adhered to the request of the CMD and hence CMD is attending the function for which he expressed his gratitude. GS also mentioned that Shri N K Gupta, Director (CFA) was on tour in Kerala for last two days and was busy and inspite of his busy schedule, he is attending the open session and expressed his gratitude. He also expressed his gratitude to Shri Shameem Akhtar, Sr. GM (SR) New Delhi who is the nodal officer between the unions and association for sparing his valuable time and attending the function. He also expressed his gratitude to all the Chief General Manager, General Managers, and other senior officers. He also expressed his sincere thanks to Com. Kaushik, GS TEAM and Com. Amit Gupta, CS, AIRBSNLEWA, Kolkata.

GS, AIBSNLEA mentioned the brief history of the BSNL from its formation, commitments given by the Govt, present condition of the BSNL, status of the Govt. assurances, financial crisis of BSNL, reason for the today’s scenario, support expected from Govt., support received from the Govt., various HR issues of executives of various disciplines, etc.

He has also mentioned that as a service association AIBSNLEA cannot remain silent spectator to the problems of the executives of various disciplines. He narrated few of the following burning issues frustrating the members due to its non-settlement for a longer period.

Filling up of the vacant SAG/JAG, STS Group ‘A’ posts in BSNL of all streams.
Regular Promotion from JTO (T) to SDE (Telecom) and JTO(TF) to SDE(TF) of seniority and LDCE quota.
Serious irregularities in the TES Gr. B officer’s seniority lists:Finalization of TES-‘B’ seniority list on the basis of recent Hon’ble Supreme Court verdict.
Early CPCs from JAO to AO , AO to CAO and CAO to DGM.(F)
CPC from SDE(C/E) to EE(C/E).
Withdrawal of the system/practice of Local Officiating Arrangement or Local Officiating Promotion in BSNL and Introduction of Look After arrangement by Executives- request for restoration of Local Officiating Arrangement.
Early settlement of Pay anomaly cases wherein senior Executives are drawing less pay than their juniors.
Regularization of offg. JTOs and pay fixation under FR 22(I)a
Special drive for recruitment of JTO’s/ JAO’s for tenure/deficit circles.
Implementation of the Administrative Order to allow all existing SDEs (C/E) promotion upto EE level.
Implementation of CPSU cadre hierarchy- Change of designations on each Time Bound upgradation on functional basis up to SG- JAG level as assured at the time of absorption in BSNL.
Implementation of E-2, E-3 standard IDA Pay scales to JTO and SDE equivalent executives in BSNL.
30% Superannuation benefit to BSNL recruited employees as per DPE guidelines.
Date of effect of Implementation of revised IDA Pay Scales for the Executives (C/E/Arch., PAs/PSSs) w.e.f. 01.10.2000 on notional basis.
One time placement of SDE to Sr. SDE Grade.
Restructuring of Assistant Directors (OL) cadre.
EPF Statement &Superannuation benefits to directly recruited employees as per DPE guidelines.
Sanction/creation of new posts of PPS in the field offices.
Inordinate delay in settlement of disciplinary cases.
Distribution /review of SAG level officers in Telecom Operations Stream in Territorial Circles and SSAs.
Improvement in the revised policy for service GSM, RSTC & Broadband to serving Executives and BSNL Pensioners:
Enhancement of 200 free calls limit per month on RSTC, & enhancement of free call limit on GSM Telephone connection to STS level officer from 500 calls to 800 calls.
Rent free Broadband service connection to all Executives with BSNL 750 plan.
All Executives’ should be allowed CUG facility on RSTC at circle level.
3G Mobile service with Data facility to all Executives.
Implementation of DPE OM dated 02.04.2009 on 78.2% IDA Pay fixation for pensioners, withdrawal of 60:40 provision and IDA Pension revision of BSNL pensioners in 3rd PRC.

While concluding, GS thanked all for giving him a patient hearing and at the same time he reaffirmed and resolved that AIBSNLEA shall not be found wanting in discharging our responsibilities even in the new environment and will move forward along with all to make India of our dreams, a reality. AIBSNLEA also reassure our esteemed customers that these Associations AIBSNLEA& AIGETOA will do everything at its disposal to ensure the best possible telecom services in terms of “affordability, quality and transparency”.

Shri R.P. Shahu, General Secretary in his addressed mentioned that due to the decision of the present BSNL board to introduce the free roaming and night free calling, the feeling of the general public is overwhelming and expressed his gratitude to the CMD and Board members of BSNL. He stated that It is also noticed that the present CMD is taking confidence of the associations and unions for the decisions he is taking and feels like participating management. BSNL’s present management has started recognizing the internal talent of the executives, which will help the BSNL in its growth. He has pointed that in order to compete with the private operators, level playing is must which is not available with the BSNL. There is no flexibility with the BSNL as compared to the private operators. He mentioned that though the Indian population is in need to keep and use the BSNL mobile services, the acute shortage of GSM materials which is directly affecting the services, does not permit BSNL to meet the requirement of the customer. BSNL instead of waiting for the customer to attend the CSC, should commence visiting the customers in the name of customer driven centre. He also pointed that unless the problems of the employees are sorted out, their mind will not be free to serve the customers. He also opined that best employees of the cadre should be posted in the CSCs after interview, if needed. Employees grievance cell will have to be formed at circle level and head quarter level. There is a heavy misuse of diesel / petrol expenses which needs to be controlled by stringent monitoring and action to save the revenue leakage. He pointed out that the retirement benefit is the integral part of the service conditions and benefits. In any PSU there is no different pay scale for the direct recruited executives, except BSNL and MTNL. He pointed out that BSNL executives are not allowed to appear for the DGM exam is absolute injustice against the executives just because, they have joined in BSNL.

Shri A.K. Kaushik, General Secretary, TEAM in his speech mentioned that the presence of the CMD BSNL has changed the scenario and all are comfortable. If the management start understanding its employees and their problems, there is no need for BSNL to appoint any experts in any field. The strong confidence of CMD BSNL and CMD MTNL on its work force is tremendous and overwhelming. He mentioned that the executives of MTNL and BSNL were the erstwhile DoT employees and were separated by the policy of the Govt. we should not be afraid of the competition. We should concentrate on the quality of service. No person recruited from outside can give any output which the internal executives with experience cannot do. The private operators has come to such a situation with the support and work of the ex-executives of BSNL / MTNL only. He requested Director (CFA) to take up the case of merger of BSNL & MTNL to get the PAN India status for the Govt. service provider. He expressed his sincere gratitude for giving an opportunity to address the gathering and to meet the old friends of DoT era.

Shri Saibal Sen Gupta, Convenor, Joint Forum, Kolkata expressed his gratitude for inviting him and giving an opportunity to address the gathering. He has mentioned that the CMD BSNL has mentioned in the earlier CWC of AIBSNLEA at Hyderabad that the 2.5 Lakh work force is quite enough to revive the BSNL and the same CMD is now confident that within 6 to 7 months, BSNL can improve a lot. He wished the conference a very success.

Shri Shameem Akhtar, Sr. GM (SR), BSNLCO, New Delhi in his speech extended gratitude for inviting him for the meeting. He mentioned that as the regular Director (HR) was not available, many HR issues could not be settled. Now since the new Director (HR) has joined, under the guidance of the present dynamic CMD, many of the issues will be settled at the earliest. He has presented a poem on BSNL services in the name …. Jai Bharat Sanchar Nigam ….. and also another poem viz. ek aur parivatan kar lo….., customer ko kush kar lo….. , ek aur parivarthan kar lo………

Shri Kishore Kumar, CGM, BSNL, West Bengal Telecom Circle in his speech mentioned that the concept of I with We is better for the welfare of the organization. We creates the feeling of togetherness. The ‘man’ managing the machines are behind the growth of the organization and not the machines. The level of attachment with the organization by the workforce will improve the organization. The present situation is that, we have to manage and market and every individual has to work as marketing executives. The customer interface officer / staff is the best marketing manager. Every employee has immense capacity and only will have to channelize the power for the benefit of the organization. He requested everyone to Involve fully in their work with devotion so that they can given more output. He extended gratitude to AIBSLEA and AIGETOA for extending invitation.

Shri K.C. Ghosh, G M Kolkata telephone on behalf of Shri Amit Bhatacharjee, CGM, Kolkata Telephones addressed the gathering. In his address he has extended thanks for inviting him in the function. He mentioned that the ERP has been fully implemented in the country and everybody is taking benefit of it which was the innovation of the present Director (CFA). Every area, Kolkata telephones is facing problem and the newly introduced plan of night free call has started getting back the customers. Kolkata telephone has the potential and there is a need of dedication and shouldering more responsibilities. Wished best wishes for the conference.

Shri N.K. Gupta, Director (CFA), BSNL Board, New Delhi in his speech appreciated the G.S. AIBSNLEA and mentioned that even when there is a difference of opinion, GS AIBSNLEA always prefer to sit together and talk. As per MoC, Govt. is expecting efficiency in the service. He also mentioned that the present CMD is taking everybody into confidence and he is one of the best editor. The free call offer by the BSNL to the Nepal during its crisis was appreciated by one and all. Free incoming and free night call has been introduced and is much beneficial for the BSNL and highly appreciated at highest level. We have to en-cash these schemes for the benefit of BSNL. These schemes were introduced with full unity amongst all the senior officers of various disciplines without any hurdle which was the need of the hour accordingly to everyone. These schemes can confess to earn the revenue. WIFI hotspot between two BTSs is one of the scheme being introduced very shortly. This will give increase in data traffic. Phase I of the NGN has already been implemented and phase II tender is under process to float the same. NGN will be convergent system with both benefit of landline and mobile. Convergent billing is one another system being proposed and introduced shortly. Conversions of 512 kbps customers to 2 Mbps is one of the another proposal in pipeline to introduce.

He pointed out that the quality of service is very low as low as 30% in some of the circles. The present customer base does not bother about the tariff which is much less and they expect to get the service when they are in need of it for which, we need to improve in service quality. He extended thanks to both AIBSNLEA and AIGETOA. He also mentioned that some of the suggestions given by both the General Secretaries are very excellent and will have some more round of discussion with them and will try to implement it.

Shri Anupam Shrivastava, CMD, BSNL, New Delhi – CMD termed the unity of AIBSNLEA and AIGETOA as Youth and energy on the one side and wisdom and experience on the other side. He mentioned that the language of affection and respect communicated by the leaders brought him in the meeting. He mentioned that he was to attend the meeting with the MoC and due to the commitment, he requested the MoC who has agreed to spare him to attend this meeting. He mentioned that as on today also BSNL is not depended upon any govt. loan. The salary expenses of 15000 cr of BSNL is total expenses of Air India and many other companies.

CMD mentioned that despite of losses which is mainly due to depreciation, BSNL is able to meet our operational and salary expenses by our own without depending on the Govt. Next two years are most important for our country because many things are depends on the performance and unless we improve we cannot get salary revise by PRC when other govt. organizations will get such benefit. We have already started discussing many things with associations / unions and want to get the benefit of the schemes already introduced recently by way of night call free and roaming free. The decision to introduce this scheme was taken in the right time when the IUC was coming in our favour. The only solution is to improve the customer base is that the Officers and associations and unions should join hands together. With the introduction of free night calling in landline and free all India roaming in mobile services, turn around has already started in BSNL. In the month of July 15 BSNL got maximum connections in the mobile sector among all the operators and the number of connections just doubled. CMD requested that now its’ the turn of the executives and non-executives to give momentum to this turn around by maximizing the connections by organizing Melas and Shivirs. We have to encash these schemes before they lose their shelf life. Earlier the numbers of customers joining were less than that of the customers leaving the BSNL. The people’s perception of service providers are same amongst all the service providers as on to today. He stated that within the next 7 to 8 months, if we can improve the BSNL revenue. He mentioned that earlier the companies like ITIL and Air India could not get benefits of the pay revision. But he expressed confidence that with support of entire work force, we will work with full dedication and God willing, we will all get the benefit of 3rd PRC.

CMD has mentioned that next two years are very important for survival of BSNL and has instructed all the Circle Heads to take employees unions/associations in full confidence and push ahead for more and more connections so that benefits of roll out of two major schemes can be reaped.

He also stated that the intra circle roaming facility with other operators has to be taken care of. Till 2006 BSNL was number one company in both mobile and fixed line. From 2006 to 2012 the market was penetrating, we were coming down in customer base. When other operators are adding new sites every month BSNL is unable to do so due to lack of capital. Still we have to make many investment in the way of towers which cannot be done with the present financial condition and therefore, we may be going ahead with the tie up with other service providers for roaming. A new company in the form of tower subsidiary will be in full control of BSNL and said that asset depreciation loss can be passed to new company and profit of new company can be reaped to BSNL by saving taxes. Only we have to see that company structure is such that it remains under BSNL control and with active support of all unions and associations, he will try his best to ensure that.

He mentioned that Shri N. K. Gupta, Director (CFA) is an asset to the BSNL management. The recently introduced scheme of night free calling is the brain child of Shri N.K. Gupta and we should appreciate his efforts. CMD mentioned that has been appointed as CMD by the Govt. for a period of one year. In case the performance of the BSNL is not improved, he will have to leave the BSNL. He has also mentioned that in turn similarly a half year performance review is going to take place in September 2015 and where there is no performance improvement, the head of Circles / SSA will have to move to the place where they do not like to go. He also mentioned that many circles like Rajasthan and M.P. circles along with southern circles have started improving.

He mentioned that corruption affects the working. Pure corruption is corruption of money and not working is also a corruption (work chori) from which, we have to run away, then only we can improve.

As regards the HR issues, CMD mentioned that he is fully convinced and the executives are entitled to get their eligible dues and assured to settle all the HR issues in time bound manner. The management is fully convinced of the HR issues and the next 2 years are most important. He requested the work force to put best efforts for increasing the revenue for the next two years, as if the BSNL comes in profit, many issues will be automatically resolves. All should take care of BSNL so that my people and employees should get 3rd PRC benefits.

CMD before concluding his speech requested every one to take the following pledge.

Dhan ki Chori Nahi Karengie

Kam ki Chori Nahi Karengie

BSNL ko Aage Badayengie.

3rd PRC Benefit Leke Rahenge

Shri Ravi Shil Verma, President, AIGETOA CHQ in his vote of thanks on behalf of both the associations assured the Director (CFA) tha the executives will meet the expectations of the CMD and Director (CFA). He also requested Director (CFA) to make use of his good office to pass and get the approval of the pay revision of young executives from DoT and Govt.. He opined to commence a Death relief scheme in BSNL which is available in many PSUs which will benefit the employees and executives of BSNL. He extended thanks to CMD and Director (CFA), All the CGMs, GM (SR) and G.Ms and other officers, Veteran leaders for being present and addressing the gathering. He also extended thanks to one and all for participating and making the function a grant success.

The session ended with National Anthem.