In continuation to AIGETOA inclusive approach with support and cooperation from all likeminded groups who want a strong and united voice for resolution of the long pending HR issues, another major welfare association “JAI BHIM SEWA” have also extended support to AIGETOA and have appealed to the SC/ST fraternity to vote for AIGETOA. They have expressed belief and confidence in the steps taken by AIGETOA to safe guard the constitutional provisions extended for the SC/ST community.

JAI BHIM SEWA is a major platform which have sizeable presence across various circles of BSNL and they have been also working for the welfare of SC/ST employees of BSNL. Their support to AIGETOA is basically an endorsement to the approach of AIGETOA contrary to the smearing campaign being spread by another group.

Click here for the Letter of Support from JAI BHIM SEWA

Click here for the glimpses of Joint Meeting with JAI BHIM SEWA

Click here for MoU

AIGETOA has always stood for the protection of constitutional rights and firmly reassures one and all that it will continue its endeavours for the welfare of the executive community and will always stand firmly for protection of constitutional rights extended by Government of India.

E2-E3 SAGA : Facts on Standard Pay Scales

Did you know..? BSNL Executives Lost 3 Chances for getting E2/E3 Scale..

Chance_1 : During BSNL Formation, The Legacy Associations of BSNL & MTNL bargained under the platform of ENC (Executive Negotiating Council), MTNL got E2 Pay Scale but BSNL received only E1A.

Chance_2 : 2nd PRC Implementation Time, 2nd PRC directed standard pay scales should be adopted by all PSUs. In 2nd PRC, BSNL was classified as A+ Category, So got 30% fitment & 78.2 % DA Merger, but legacy associations accepted Category D pay scales, as to lower the pension contribution towards DoT. BSNL was earning 10000+ crores profit. So the scale implementation was much easier that time.

Chance_3 : Official reduction of E1 Scale through JTO RR-2014. The PayScale E1A was officially degraded to E1 which in turn affected the E2 prospects. This draconian measure of degradation affected entire LICE & DR JTOs from 2016 onwards. AIGETOA untiring organizational & legal efforts, BSNL management already made submissions to DoT for E2/E3 Scales.

Should we loose 4th Chance ….? Merger of MTNL as subsidiary of BSNL.

This merger with HR restructuring, We get a good chance to bargain back the E2/E3. So Choose & cast your VOTE wisely.

On 6th Aug 2023, A great splendid interactive session of Shri Ravi Shil Verma GS AIGETOA conducted with regard to roadmap & efforts for obtaining GoI Pension Scheme for those BSNL employees who were recruited with DoT/GoI notification before formation of BSNL.

The Session was presided over by Sh G Veerabhadra Rao AIP AIGETOA. The session was specifically designed for executives and non-executives of BSNL, irrespective of their association affiliation, who under went recruitment process which initiated before the formation of BSNL but were appointed after its establishment for the Vacancy/Recruitment/Notification related to the Government of India, Department of Telecommunications.

The session was attended and interacted by Chief Patron Sh A A Khan, Sh PN Sharma Chairman, Dy. GS Sh Pavan Akhand, Sh D K Sahoo Vice President. CHQ Joint Secretaries Sh Amit Roy, Sh Kamlesh Deo, Sh R N Mishra, Sh Suresh Kumar, Sh Rakesh Kumar were part of the interactive session.

Sh Wankhede Ji Senior leader along with many leaders of MH joined, Many leader of UPE also joined the session.

During the session, it was established that this specific group of employees is fully eligible for the extension of pension benefits under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. This claim aligns with the latest office Memorandum No: 57/05/2021-P&PW(B) dated 03.03.2023 issued by the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare (DOP&PW). The memorandum was further endorsed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) with endorsement no 36-03/2019-Pen(T) I/3096083/2023 dated 17.4.2023, along with the support of various court judgments, including recent Supreme Court decision, which were thoroughly discussed with all stakeholders.

The Online Interactive Session witnessed active participation from approximately 300 stakeholders, who provided valuable inputs on the matter. Recognizing the gravity of the issue, which directly impacts the livelihoods and future security of dedicated employees whose recruitment process commenced before the formation of BSNL but were appointed after its establishment for the Vacancy/Recruitment/Notification pertaining to the Government of India, Department of Telecommunications and in pursuit of transparency and accountability in addressing their grievances, the following resolutions were adopted:

1] Sh Ravi Shil Verma GS AIGETOA, detailed the actions taken by AIGETOA on this issue and committed to expeditiously raise the matter with BSNL, DoPT, DoT, and MoC for earliest resolution.

2] It has been proposed to establish a study group, chaired by Mr. T Senthil, SDE GMSC Coimbatore, Tamilnadu Circle comprising 10 members with expertise in this matter, irrespective of their association affiliation. The study group’s primary responsibility will be to examine the legal rulings on this issue, gather supportive documents, and coordinate with the stakeholders.

3] AIGETOA will actively pursue this matter with the Ministry of Communication and DoT, accompanied by the representatives of aggrieved members, irrespective of their association affiliation for further discussions in upcoming meetings, and appointments have been sought with the MoC office.

4] The General Secretary of AIGETOA emphasized that this meeting is entirely unrelated to the upcoming membership verification and association affiliation. All members aggrieved by the issue are earnestly requested to participate in this further discussions and support the proposed actions irrespective of their association affiliation.

We appreciate your active engagement in this critical matter and assure you that every effort will be made to address your concerns. The association remains dedicated to protecting the rights and interests of its members and all BSNL executives.

The AIGETOA MA is working on this issue from a very long back and also will work in the multiple directions with the firm decision to pursue this DoT / Old Pension Scheme to the employees who have joined in our beloved BSNL with the DoT / SSC/ GoI notifications. So AIGETOA is requesting all the officers to be United until it is resolved.

Though DOT has given a negative reply today but that will not deter us from pursuing on the issue and we will take all efforts to ensure that the rightful Pension under CCS Rules is extended to the eligible executives.

Listen to Sh. Ravi Shil Verma, GS AIGETOA who without any bias has explained the significance of association in BSNL. These two videos of 5 minutes and 1 minute contain certain questions which every executive must ask from himself. Your answer to these 6 minutes will decide future of executives in BSNL. We request all executives to go through this video and answer the following questions.

GS AIGETOA Shri Ravi Shil Verma has a detailed discussion with PGM SR over the phone and the Team of All India President Shri Veerabhadra Rao, Chief Patron and National Convener AIGETOA Shri A A Khan, AGSs Shri Yogendra Kumar and Shri Sunil Gautam and had follow up discussion with PGM SR on the following:

Issuance of Template for capturing Data for Cadre Strength Review:

As informed earlier, Restructuring Cell has finalised and submitted the draft for approval. After approval, the same is likely to be issued in a day or two.

Modification in Immunity Guidelines:

Though SR cell has processed the case, but some of the suggestions of association w.r.t the OA immunity and Circle office body was not considered. Accordingly, we have sought another meeting with Director HR and CMD BSNL.

Sh Sudhir Singh, SDE UP EAST, a pay loss sufferer from 2007 batch. He has done an impartial analysis and has given his opinion.

Please listen to the appeal made by Sh Ravi Kumar, JTO 2008 batch of AIGETOA. He is sharing the efforts of AIGETOA to resolve the pay loss issue and wants to tell you that if anyone can solve the pay loss issue, it is AIGETOA. AIGETOA has a clear plan and vision to resolve these issues. My appeal to you all is to support AIGETOA.

Please listen to the appeal made by Sh Sunil Gautam, LICE JTO and AGS of AIGETOA. He is sharing the facts and efforts of AIGETOA for resolving the pay related issues and cautioning you to beware of the false propaganda created by some people who have no knowledge of the issue. They are creating propaganda just to satisfy their bosses. AIGETOA has a clear plan and vision to resolve these issues. Hence, my earnest appeal is to support AIGETOA.

AIGETOA CHQ has decided to publish a weekly update on status, level of persuasion and outcomes associated pertaining to various issues related to Executive Cadre. To start with, we are publishing the updates for the period 5th June to 13th June and hereinafter, weekly update shall be regularly updated on every Monday for the information of all the executives.

Last Week and this week Team AIGETOA comprising of All India President Shri Veerabhadra Rao, GS Shri Ravi Shil Verma, Dy GS Shri Pavan Akhand, AGSs Shri Yogendra Kumar and Shri Sunil Gautam met various authorities and had multiple meetings at the level of Director HR, PGM (SR & Restg), PGM (Pers), CGM (CNTx-North) and discussed the following issues:

Start of Process for Review of Cadre Strength:

The matter was strongly taken up before Director HR and PGM (Restg) and after detailed discussion finally instructions were given to start the cadre strength review process. Thereafter the Restructuring Cell has already initiated the review exercise. Association shall be giving its input in next few days. We are quite hopeful of increase in number of posts across all the cadres and streams in view of the increased revenue as well as because of new government projects like 4G saturation, Bharatnet, FTTH to Villages etc. AIGETOA’s firm emphasis shall be on sufficient increase in number of posts so that executives across various cadres and streams get a smooth career progression.

JTO to SDE DPC and increase in number of posts for DPC as well as LDCE:

We raised the matter pertaining to the long-awaited promotions in JTO to SDE cadre. We highlighted that Management must move ahead with a progressive thought process. Various complexities associated with the DPC process was discussed. We are hopeful of a positive outcome soon.

We also highlighted that the root cause of all problems is not filling up the vacancies of Pre-VRS and its high time that management must do a rethink on a current procedure adopted and instead should fill up the year wise vacancies available in the Pre-VRS ERA which will end the various disputes in fact across all cadres and streams. Further we have also requested for counting the SDE vacancies against Look After Posts in AGM Cadre which will also increase the number of vacancies. We are quite hopeful that management will definitely give a rethink on the approach adopted and ensure that sufficient vacancies are available for covering all the eligible JTOs in both the quota.

SDE to AGM Promotions:

We once again reminded management about their earlier commitment and to ensure that sufficient vacancies are available in AGM cadre for ensuring the promotions of all eligible SDEs. We also requested for considering the methodology which we have presented during the agenda meeting which was subsequently discussed with CMD BSNL also and there was a broad consensus on towing that line. We expressed our regret on the reluctancy on the part of Pers section for moving ahead with the SDE to AGM Promotions by making sufficient vacancies available by virtue of diversions and rearrangement within the defined strength. The matter is under discussion and deliberation at the level of Director HR and we sincerely feel and hope that finally management will move ahead with the proposal submitted by AIGETOA to ensure the promotions of all eligible. We also requested management to ensure that speaking order issued by BSNL in Madras High Court must be followed in letter and spirit and any deviation from that will result into a contemptuous act by BSNL for that the sole responsibility shall lie on Pers section only.

AO to CAO promotions:

We requested management for trying to get the stay vacated at Hon’ble Chandigarh CAT and if needed the appeal should be filed before Hon’ble High court to seek vacation of stay on the promotions. Further, we also requested for diversion of vacancies from SET quota to DPC quota which will ensure that promotions of all the eligible AOs can be done to CAO grade. We highlighted that AIGETOA will never allow recruitment of SETs and hence instead of keeping the vacancies on hold, the same must be diverted to DPC quota which will end the dispute.

DE to DGM Promotions:

We requested for filing an MA at Hon’ble Chandigarh CAT wherein we requested for submissions of BSNL with regard to fulfilling the directions of Hon’ble Court as now the decision at the highest level has already been taken for following the DoP&T guidelines for reservation in promotions and there is no ambiguity as such over the methodology to be adopted as concurrence of DoP&T has also been obtained on the methodology adopted by BSNL. It’s high time that management stops calling the promotions as provisional and should move forward with promotions in AGM Cadre to DGM cadre by filling up all the available vacancies. Management agreed to our request and assured that after taking legal opinion, matter shall be pursued either at Hon’ble CAT Chandigarh or at Hon’ble Supreme Court where the SLP is pending.

DGM (Adhoc) to DGM (Regular)

We requested for continuing the services of Senior Advocate and also requested BSNL for filing an appeal at Hon’ble High Court. The same was agreed by management side.

SDE 2007 reversal issue:

Matter was deliberated at length with the Director HR and committee members. The discussions were positive and we hope that things will soon fall in line. We sincerely hope that management will extend justice to the affected candidates and we firmly assure that AIGETOA will ensure resolution, come what may.

OTP cases including transfer cases of KTK Circle and waiting list of other hard tenure Circles and changes in Transfer Policy:

It was assured that OTP cases shall be processed in this week including the ones from Karnataka Circle on which there is a firm assurance that the cases shall be considered based on the criteria of date of application when the executive first time applied for OTP. We further highlighted the precarious scenario where one executive is getting transferred within circle, thereafter Inter Circle. We requested for a moratorium on transfer of the executive in Inter Circle also for at least five years if he/she has already undergone transfer within the circle. We requested for a centralized transfer policy where an executive doesn’t faces repeated transfers, first within the circle and then Inter Circle. We further highlighted the arbitrary selection of choice circles where in an executive higher in waiting list is not getting his first or second choice while another executive getting the same station despite being junior in the waiting list. We also requested for publication of waiting list in OTP cases also and publication of vacancies available in circle so that an executive can make an informed choice in OTP window. Management side agreed to explore the suggestions and we are hopeful of a positive outcome on the above suggestions. Maximum use of automated procedures and minimum use of discretionary power is the demand of AIGETOA and transparency in the process is a must.

Extending the Laptop Policy for field units also:

Association extended its thanks for approving the Laptop Reimbursement Policy and requested for immediate replication of the same for executive’s upto JTO/JAO/Equivalent level in the field units. Management Side assured to positively consider the same for field units also.

Revision in the TA/DA/Allowances at current market rates:

Director HR appreciated the concern and assured that needful action shall be done to revise the same.

Association Immunity Policy:

We requested for keeping the letter dated 14.10.2022 held in abeyance at least till next MV. It is anticipated that management will take a considerate view on the same.

Friends,

Above are the update on the persuasion made by Association in Last Few Days and the outcome associated with the persuasion. All we can assure is that AIGETOA is fully committed to resolve the PPP issues and things are moving on a positive note on the issues related to promotion and restructuring. In next few days, AIGETOA shall be knocking the doors of the highest echelons in DoT and Nodal Ministry to ensure precipitation and resolution of the financial issues including the Pay Scale issues, Pay loss issues, 30 Percent SAB, 3rd PRC, Pension Revision. All these issues pertain to the policies of government and hence we must have to pursue at the highest level and our association AIGETOA is fully committed to go to any extent to ensure the resolution of these financial issues. Further our Legal team has finalized the Legal aspects and association has decided to take the legal recourse also for ensuring the resolution of all the pay loss related issues.

Further a detailed meeting of the Director HR and other senior officers of HR group has taken place with the leaders of the Forum of BSNL Associations on 13th June 2023 wherein issues related to MSRRs, promotions in various cadres, immunity, transfer policy etc has been discussed. The detailed update shall be shared at the platform of Forum in due course. Discussion of that meeting has also ended on a positive note.

Sh Ravi Shil Verma All India Chairman, Sh Veerabhadra Rao All India President, Sh Sunil Gautam and Sh Rakesh Meena CS NTR met GM(Pers) Sh S N Gupta and Pers Team for discussion on pending issues:

JTO to SDE Promotions :

We expressed our strong resentment on the non issuance of promotions in the JTO to SDE cadre despite approval and notification of the revised SDE RRs. We reminded them about the consistently missing deadlines despite the assurances given by the apex of the organization i.e. by CMD BSNL in meeting dated 21.03.2023 and Director (HR) in the agenda meeting held in February. We said such type of continued ignorance on the long pending issues is basically denting the trust of executives in the system and the same is never good for any organization to flourish.

After detailed discussions, it was finally agreed that all available vacancies upto 31st December 2022 shall be filled up by 25th May 2023. LDCEs shall be also notified simultaneously in which all the eligible JTOs can appear for promotion on the fast track basis. We requested them to expedite the process further and ensure the promotions in next few days. We also insisted that LDCEs should also be notified immediately to benefit more JTOs. Further, simultaneous processing of both the streams will minimize the legal hurdles also.

SDE Reversal Issue :

We told GM Pers that SDE Reversal is another issue which has kept unsettled despite repeated assurances at various levels. We insisted upon immediate conclusive action on the issue to ensure that these innocent SDEs do not suffer any further. GM Pers assured for a speedy action on the issue.

SDE to AGM Promotions and Increasing AGM & DGM vacancies:

We have reminded the deliberations and discussions held in our AIGETOA agenda meeting ( 08 & 22-02-2023 ) and separate meeting with CMD & DIR HR on 21-03-2023. GM pers said that as and when directed by Director (HR), action shall be initiated. AIGETOA Team shall be taking up this issue further with Hon’ble CMD BSNL and Director (HR) for a speedy resolution.

Issuance of OTP cases of Karnataka Circle :

The issue is under consideration and the same shall be processed along with the long stay transfer cases expected to be held soon.

Retention/Modifications/Cancellation cases

We informed that many cases have not been considered and requested to consider the same at the earliest.