The unprecedented heavy rains continue to play havoc in the flood situation in Kerala to its worst. 324 people have lost their lives up to the morning on 17th August, lakhs of people are shifted to relief camps, thousands are stranded and rescue operations are in full swing despite bad weather. Lakhs of people have lost everything as their houses are swept away in the floods. 27 dams were compelled to be opened which aggravated the flood situation and all the rivers are overflowing. Bridges, roads, electrical and telecom installations, rails etc are damaged and in some cases destroyed completely. So, life in Kerala has virtually come to a  stand still as traffic through road, rail and air is stopped.

This is an unusual situation in the history of Kerala for the last 100 years. The government of Kerala is managing the situation most effectively with the support of the people, army, navy, air force, police, fire force and numerous non-government organisations. The huge financial burden of the devastating disaster cannot be borne with the government fund alone. The Chief Minister of Kerala has appealed to all for generous contributions to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. CHQ requests all the units to extend an helping hand to the people of Kerala at this period of distress by contributing, what ever little it may be, to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund directly to bank account ; State Bank Of India, City Branch, Thiruvananthapuram- account No.67319948232, IFSC : SBIN0070028 , with intimation to CHQ. Kerala Circle Branch has already taken the initiative to collect the relief fund and it is worth mentioning that Kannur District Branch donated Rs.1 lakh on 13-08-2018 and Kollam District Rs.50,000 on 15-08-2018.

So let us rush the donations and no time to lose.

Dear Comrades and well wishers,

CHQ expresses regret for not updating website from 08th to 17th August during which period Com.K.G.Jayaraj, General Secretary happened to be on tour to Assam, Shillong and Kolkata. Though arrangement was made to do the updating even during his travel and carrying the laptop for this purpose, he was unable to do it due to some unforeseen technical snag.

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Shri. M.Karunanidhi , fondly called Kalainger, (94) passed away at 6.10 PM on -07-08-2018 at Kauveri Hospital, Chennai. He was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for five terms and DMK President for 50 years. He was ailing for some time long. He was closely associated with the Tamil film and has penned story and screen play for many films and richly contributed to Tamil literature with his numerous books. He fought for the rights of the marginalised and the backward section of the people which made him popular among the Tamil People.  Shri.Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister after Shri C.N.Annadurai, the founder president and founder DMK Chief Minister expired. He has also played a key role in the national political scenario  and was instrumental in DMK sharing power in the various central governments.

AIBDPA expresses deep sorrow on tha passing away of Shri. M.Karunanidhi and conveys heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and the people of Tamil Nadu.

The 5th biennial conference of Mavelikara Area Branch under Alappuzha District has been held befittingly on 04-08-2018 at Com.S.Divakaran Nagar, Mavelikara. Com.K.P.Kesavan Nair, President presided over the conference. Com.P.Sasidharan, Area Secretary welcomed one and all. Com.R.Rajesh MLA inaugurated the Conference with particular reference to situation prevailing in our country and portrayed how Kerala differentiates. Com.Leela Abhilash, Municipal Chair-person delivered the key note address. Coms. N.Guruprasad, Circle Secretary and P.Surendran, District Secretary also addressed on issues of the pensioners and need to further strengthening of the organisation.

Coms. K.P.Kesavan Nair, P.Sasidharan and R.Krishna Pillai were elected unanimously as Presdent, Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.

Com.R.Krishna Pillai proposed vote of thanks.  

Staff Side members of BSNLEU and NFTE reach unanimity with regards to the construction of new pay scales.

The Staff Side members of the Joint Committee for Negotiating Wage Revision of the Non-Executives, conducted their internal meeting yesterday the 03.08.2018. The Staff Side members who participated in this meeting are:-

BSNLEU :- Com. Balbir Singh, President, Com. P. Abhimanyu, GS, Com. Swapan Chakraborty, Dy.GS, Com. P. Asokababu, Vice President and Com. Animesh Mitra, Vice President.

NFTE:- Com. Islam Ahmed, President, Com. Chandeshwar Singh, GS and Com. K.S. Sheshadri, Dy.GS.

The Staff Side members of both the Recognised Unions conducted very cordial and detailed discussion about the construction of the new pay scales. In the discussions, concern was expressed that no stagnation should come after introduction of the new pay scales. Finally, the meeting reached unanimity in giving it’s proposals to the Management, with regards to the new pay scales. It was decided that the proposals of the Staff Side, on new pay scales, should be handed over to the Management Side on 06.08.2018, ie., well before the next meeting of the Joint Committee, so that the Management Side gets sufficient time to go through the proposals of the Staff Side, which will help to take concrete decisions in the meeting of the Joint Committee to be held on 09.08.2018.

(BSNLEU Website)

The National Executive of NCCPA was held effectively at EB Guest Hose, Chennai on 05-08-2018. Com. S. S. Roy, Working President presided in the forenoon session, followed by Com. Shiv Gopal Mishra, President. Com.K.K.N.Kutty briefly spoke on the agenda issues and the National Executive discussed the issues with all seriousness. Participating in the discussion, Com.K.G.Jayaraj, General Secretary raised the issues of organizing followup action after the 25-10-2017, Pension revision of BSNL pensioners with effect from 01-01-2017 with 15% fitment on IDA pattern , delinking the wage revision, Attempts by BSNL management to curtail the medical facilities and our demand of Rs.2000 as monthly medical allowance, Option 1 ,Exemption of pension from income tax,  denial of full pension to pre 2006 retirees with less than 33 years service and the CGHS issues. Com.V.A.N.Namboodiri, Advisor and Patron, NCCPA, K.Raghavendran, General Secretary, AIPRPA and a host of leaders, representing various constituent organisations spoke.

A four phased programme of action was decided to be conducted as a followup action for the settlement of the 10 point charter of demands.

1. Mass campaign in Ocober- November, 2018
2. Post card campaign- December, 2018
3. Statewide Dharna – January, 2019 and
4. Mass Dharna at New Delhi in March, 2019.

The National Executive authorised the Secretariat to finalise the details with the exact dates.

Decision was also taken to increase the price of the NCCPA News Letter to Rs.6 and to widen the subscriber base.

On exemption of pension from income tax, the National Executive decided to demand exemption of pensioners with an annual income of Rs,5 lakh from income tax.

Com.Shiv Gopal Mishra briefed on the outcome of the meeting of NJCA  held 17th July, 2018 and stated that another meeting is slated to be held on 18th August, 2018 to review the progress on the important issues and will take appropriate decision including revival of indefinite strike.

The resolution moved by Com.V.A.N.Namboodiri demanding pension of Rs.1000 for all the workers in the country of above 60 years , was adopted unanimously.

After thorough discussion it was decided to explore the possibilities of approaching the court on the issue of Option 1.

The Reception Committee for the 3rd Triennial All India Conference , Kolkata has intimated that the two day conference will be held on 23-24, February, 2019 at Kolkata.

According to Consumer Price Index released by the Labour Bureau, there will be 2% increase in the CDA /DR for the central government employees and pensioners, making the total to 9%, from 01-07-2018. The central cabinet has to take a decision for issuing the orders.