Category Archives: Uncategorized
AIBDPA Kerala Circle donates Rs.23 lakhs to Kerala Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
Kerala Circle, AIBDPA, has donated Rs.23,03,899 to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) and the same was announced in the daily Press Conference of the Chief Minister. The amount was collected and paid to CMDRF as per the call of the AIBDPA (CHQ) in the COVID-19 situation to collect donation and pay to PMDRF or CMDRF.
During the floods in Kerala last year, similar donations were made by AIBDPA.
Despite the difficulty in collecting during the Covid situation, the district secretaries ensured that maximum collection is made. It is also to be mentioned here that the BSNL retirees have not been granted Pension Revision for the last three years which is due from 01-01-2017.
Congratulations to Kerala Comrades and Circle Secretary Com. Guruprasad for the best efforts in contributing to the Fund.
Visakhapatnam Gas Tragedy.
Gas leak in midnight yesterday at Visakhapatnam has resulted in the death of 11 persons and hospitalization of more than 5000 in serious condition. The gas was leaked from a private chemical company. There has been serious security and safety lapse, and precious lives have been lost.
Our Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Let us hope that there is no further casualty.
Conspiracy to deny 4G equipment supply to BSNL – AUAB writes to the Prime Minister, seeking his intervention.
The TEPC (Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council), an association of the Indian Telecom Equipment Manufactures, has complained to the government that, BSNL has violated the “Make in India” policy, in the procurement of 4G equipments. In the 4G tender floated by BSNL on 20.03.2020, the BSNL is laid down the following two conditions.
The bidding company should have the previous experience of providing 20 million 4G line network. The bidding company should have Rs.8,000 crore turn over in the previous two financial years.
Both these conditions are very much required to ensure the quality of 4G equipments and also their prompt supply. Based on the complaint of the TEPC, the Commerce Department and the DoT have objected to BSNL’s tender. The whole intention of the TEPC is to see BSNL does not start it’s 4G service. If BSNL does not launch it’s 4G service expeditiously, naturally it is the private companies like Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea which are going to get benefitted. So, we can understand whose hands are there behind the complaint of TEPC. Similar conspiracies have been hatched earlier also, to kill BSNL. Now, it has become the duty of the unions and associations of BSNL to ensure that BSNL gets 4G equipments from this tender. As a first step, the AUAB has written to the Prime Minister, seeking his intervention. If necessary, the AUAB has to take more serious steps to ensure that, BSNL gets 4G equipments.
(courtesy: BSNLEU website.)
BSNL Order No. F. No: BSNLCO-EB-U ll(20)l 5/2020-ESTAB Dated: 6th May,2020 on Payment of leave encashment in respect of VRS-2019 optees whose Vigilance clearance is withheld.
Pension Revision unduly delayed.
Granting pension revision to BSNL retirees w.e.f. 01.01.2017 is delayed for more than three years. There has been no increase in pension for last 13 years except increase of due DA. (It is also being denied to a section of pensioners).
Many pensioners have passed away since 2017 without getting their pension revision. Centre continuously speaks about the need to look after the aged people, especially during Covid 19. After meeting more than 200 Members of Parliament including Central Ministers by AIBDPA leaders, many of the concerned M.P.s have raised the matter in Parliament and also with Prime Minister.
It is unfortunate that the govt. is sitting tight on the issue without issuing orders. There is no other way but to continue our efforts as also struggles.
We demand the government to issue orders on Pension Revision with 15% fitment without any further delay.
AIBDPA writes to Hon’ble Prime Minister on Medical Reimbursement and Medical Allowance to BSNL pensioners.
AIBDPA/BSNL MRS-PM/2020 May 2, 2020
To,
Shri Narendra Modi Ji
Hon’ble Prime Minister,
Government of India
South Block, Raisina Hill
New Delhi – 110 001
Respected Sir,
Sub: – Medical Reimbursement and Medical Allowance to BSNL pensioners – reg.
On behalf of lakhs of BSNL pensioners, we respectfully submit the following for your kind consideration and early favourable intervention.
We thank for your address to the Nation during COVID-19 period, specifically mentioning about the extra care to be ensured with regard to the health and well being of the aged persons, who are more vulnerable to the pandemic.
In this connection, we would like to mention about the sad plight of the BSNL pensioners, who have served the Nation sincerely during long years of their service.
The medical reimbursement for hospital treatment and medical allowance for outdoor treatment are completely stopped by the BSNL Management on the plea of lack of funds. Patients suffering from chronic diseases like cancer, kidney ailments, cardiac problems etc., who require continuous tests and treatment are unable to continue treatment due to non- reimbursement, which endangers their life itself. Quarterly Medical Allowance is also stopped, causing extreme difficulties.
We had discussed the matter with CMD BSNL as also with officers of DOT. Getting no fruitful result, we wrote to Communications Minister, but so far no result.
Under these circumstances, we are compelled to approach your kindself to look in to the extreme difficulties of the BSNL pensioners and issue necessary instructions to the DOT and BSNL management to ensure that all the medical claims of the BSNL pensioners are reimbursed and the quarterly medical allowance with arrears are paid immediately.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
K G Jayaraj
General Secretary.
Copy to: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad ji, Hon’ble Minister for Communications, Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi-110001.
A very educative and truthful narrative being faced by BSNL, its workers and people. Article in Business Line by Shri Thomas K. Thomas.
Destroying BSNL, one more time
Thomas K Thomas | Updated on April 30, 2020 [BusinessLine]
Objections to the telco’s 4G tenders are reminiscent of the past. But this time, BSNL cannot afford to lose its chance of survival.
State-run telecom company BSNL recently got a new lease of life after the Centre pumped in about ₹70,000 crore to revive it. It’s not even six months since this relief package was announced, and there is already an attempt to scuttle the dying telecom company’s revival plans.
On March 23, BSNL floated a new tender to procure 4G equipment in a bid to expand its mobile broadband network. The contract, valued at nearly ₹9,000 crore, included upgradation of 50,000 sites across the country that would position the telecom company to offer high-speed Internet access to its users. This project is crucial for the company, as it is already four years behind private telecom companies including Reliance Jio and Airtel in launching 4G services.
Deployment issue.
So far, BSNL has been offering 2G and 3G services, thereby losing out on the opportunity to earn higher revenues from 4G customers. To plug this gap, the Centre decided to allocate 4G spectrum to BSNL this year and the company was quick to float the tender to award a comprehensive contract for planning, engineering, supply, and maintenance of its 4G network.
Just when things were looking to be on track, the tender for purchasing the equipment came under scrutiny from the Ministry of Commerce, after an industry body raised concerns. On April 15, the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) sent a letter to various government departments, including the Ministry of Communications and the Prime Minister’s Office, alleging that the tender conditions set by BSNL flouted procurement rules under the ‘Make in India’ policy, and was heavily in favour of multinational companies. TEPC is an industry association representing domestic telecom equipment manufacturers such as Tejas Networks, Sterlite, HFCL, and Vihaan Networks.
In the letter, TEPC said that since public money was being used to revive BSNL, domestic suppliers of network equipment should be encouraged to participate in the tendering process. But they could not participate because, according to them, BSNL has set stiff conditions for bidders — including the requirement of having previous experience of setting up a mobile network for at least 20 million subscribers. It has also raised the national security angle, as if to suggest that equipment supplied by non-Indian entities could expose BSNL’s network to snooping.
BSNL has now been told to rework the tender after the Ministry of Commerce intervened. This means further delays. Meanwhile, Airtel has awarded a $1-billion contract to Finland’s Nokia for supplying 4G network equipment. No one has raised any security concerns on this deal.
It seems that lessons from the past, which ruined BSNL, have not been learned.
Past experience.
Cut to 2008, when the Indian cellular market was at the cusp of exponential growth with 6-10 million new mobile users every month. Bharti Airtel was the top operator with 57 million users, followed by Vodafone-Essar at 41 million. BSNL, with 33.7 million users, decided to up the ante and announced an audacious plan to increase its network capacity by 94 million new lines at an investment of $10 billion, making it the world’s largest telecom equipment contract at that time. But then, allegations of irregularities in the tendering process hit the project.
Two years later, in 2010, the entire project was scrapped, dealing a crippling blow to BSNL’s expansion plans. Without adequate capacity to meet the growing demand for mobile phones, BSNL was pushed to the fifth spot after Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular.
BSNL’s revenues were nearly ₹40,000 crore in March 2007, while Airtel’s revenues were only ₹18,420 crore. By 2009, BSNL’s profits had nose-dived 81 per cent and revenues fell 6 per cent even as Airtel’s revenues grew by over ₹10,000 crore during 2008-09 and its profits increased to ₹7,859 crore. The destruction of BSNL started when it was denied to go through with the 94-million line contract.
Unfair burden.
The latest tender for 4G equipment is more crucial than the 2G rollout in 2008. Then BSNL was still profitable then; now, it is fighting for survival. Rolling out 4G services quickly could still give the PSU a chance at cornering the market share in rural areas, where private players are just about launching services. If it has to compete with the likes of Reliance Jio and Airtel, then there has to be a level playing field.
It will be unfair to ask only BSNL to buy local 4G equipment, which is largely untested, and let private players run on equipment supplied by global giants like Nokia and Ericsson. If network security is an issue, then why should it only be relevant for BSNL? More than 90 per cent of mobile users in the country are on private operators’ network, and almost 100 per cent of these networks are supplied by foreign companies, including Chinese vendors.
The fact is that Indian players do not have experience in managing large mobile networks. While some of them may have developed 4G technology, there has been no large-scale deployment on these platforms, so the quality standards have not been tested. BSNL cannot afford to have another failed network deployment.
That is not to say that Indian manufacturers should not be encouraged. Companies such as Tejas, Sterlite, and Aksh Optifibre have developed top expertise in specific areas of telecommunication networks. The Centre should do more to support Indian manufacturing companies in a manner that’s fair to all stakeholders in the industry.
But the burden of propping up domestic manufacturers cannot be put on BSNL alone, in a highly competitive telecom market.
