BRUHASPATI SAMAL
Secretary, AIPEU, Gr.-C
Bhubaneswar
The clock is advancing relentlessly with its
tick-tock music as a new year starts and old one ends reminding us the same
customary attitude to contemplate all our agonies and ecstasies reviewing our
resolutions made in the beginning of the year and looking back on months gone by. While it’s no
wonder to recall all the happy times
that enriched our lives, realize the fondest dreams which made us recognized,
memorize the best rewards of our deepest
and finest feelings and great satisfactions, refresh and revitalize the
pleasures with people, material and personal successes on one hand, it becomes,
on the other also inevitable to weigh
our ignorance / mistakes to find out the hurdles for unachieved goals, to
examine the reasons for failures and to establish the deviations from our
promises and commitments so that we can greet the New Year with a stronger attitude and a better commitment
than ever.
In this context, it is a proud moment for all
of us to recollect the glorious journey of the Department of Posts from
traditional to digital along with the historic Postal/Central Govt. employees Trade
Union Movement through National Federation of Post & Telecom Employees
(NFPTE) alias National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE) which enters the
62nd year of its existence. During our long strenuous journey, we
have not only experienced the Divide and Rule Policy of the British Government
but also the administrative dilemma and miseries of Postal workers in
particular and Central Govt. employees in general even during post-independent
era without minimum wage, holidays, fixed duty hours, recreation, promotion,
bonus, advances, overtime allowance, retirement benefits etc., They were badly treated, severally
punished and personally abused. Corruption was rampant. The service of the
employees was hopelessly insecure.
The P
& T Trade Union Movement which was
initiated in the name of a Postal Club in Kolkatta GPO under the able
leadership and guidance of Babu Tarapad Mukherjee during 1905 became recognized
as National Federation of Post and Telegraph Employees
(NFPTE) on 24th November,
1954 after 50 years of
uncompromised struggles and sacrifices. Com. B N Ghosh,
popularly known as Dada Ghosh became the founder Secretary General of NFPTE.
Till it was bifurcated in February, 1986 to National Federation of Postal
Employees (NFPE) and National Federation of Telecom Employees (NFTE) consequent
upon separation of the Department to Department of Posts and Department of
Telecommunications, NFPTE continued its struggle to give its members the benefits they deserve
in spite of formation of Federation of National Postal Organizations (FNPO) in
1968 and Bhartiya Post and Telegraph Employees Federation (BPTEF) in 1977 by the
ruling party to weaken the movements reiterating the so called Divide and Rule
Policy of the British Govt. In spite of hurdles and attacks by the Govt., NFPE
has never looked back and is continuing its struggles as the biggest
constituent of Confederation of Central Govt. employees and Workers not only to
protect the interest of the postal and RMS employees in particular but also to
give justice to the entire working class in general.
It is needless to reiterate that the benefits
now we are enjoining as Central Govt. Employees are the gifts of the sacrifices
of the leaders and loyal workers of NFPTE / Confederation without caring for
brutal murders, mass scale arrests, termination, suspension and above all
de-recognition of our Federation by the administration / Govt. The story of
success and sacrifice of NFPTE/Confederation is too long to describe.
NFPE’s struggle movements in particular are
not just confined to pay or leave etc. In the name of transformation of India
Post, the problems of the postal employees have been multiplied during the last
two decades. With formulation of National Postal Policy, Strategic Plan,
Corporate Plan and introduction of Project Arrow and I T Modernization Project,
the employees are now treated in similar nature prevailed during
pre-independence era. With acute shortage of staff due to arbitrary abolition
of posts, increased working hours due to down-sizing, additional pressure due
unachievable targets for POSB, PLI/RPLI and business products, frequent system
problems due to improper software, inadequate professionals and outdated accessories,
compulsion of cent percent delivery in the absence of adequate staff and
support system, introduction of new products and services without proper
education and training to the employees and such other problems arising out of
computerization and modernization, the employees are suffering like anything. In
addition, corporatization/privatization of India Post through implementation of
Task Force report is still a peril like the sword of Damocles. Over Time duty
has already lost its concept due to non-revision of the allowance for more than
two decades. Contradictorily, the promotional avenues in postal department have
been twisted to be confused. The cadre restructuring proposal has been
unnecessarily delayed for last five years. The fates of 3 lakh Gramin Dak
Sewaks have remained unpredictable for decades together. Thus, we are still
demanding to fill up all vacant posts, creation of new posts, to stop corporatization
/ privatization / down-sizing, to give five promotions, to give status and
pension to GDS etc. The struggles have not yet ended.
In addition, due to rapid migration of Post
Office to CBS Finacle and PLI McCamish in the absence of proper infrastructure,
the sufferings of the employees of Department of Posts beggar description
during 2015. The nature of fixed duty hours has now lost its concept. The
employees are receiving irregular orders always not to leave office without
permission of the CPC/CEPT. Till now we have 12109 CBS post offices all over
India which includes 804 HOs and 11305 SOs. Odisha Circle got its first CBS
post Office on 01.12.2014 in the name of Bhubaneswar GPO and during 2015 Odisha
Circle has migrated all its 35 HOs and 347 SOs as on date. In Bhubaneswar
Division, we have 32 CBS Post Offices including Bhubaneswar GPO as on date.
Similarly, during 2015, PLI McCamish roll out has been completed in 21 HOs of
Odisha Circle including Bhubaneswar GPO which was rolled out as first HO on
07.09.2015. The employees are regularly struggling for smooth connectivity,
proper hardware and adequate manpower to render proper services to the
customers. But all their efforts have fallen to the deaf ears of the
administration. Responsibility is seen to be
shifted from Department to Infosys, from Infosys to Sify or sometimes
from both to the Central Server / Data Centre etc. Due to no fault of the
officials, they are falling prey to the anger of the dissatisfied customers.
Above all, 2015 remained a year of suffering
for the postal employees in particular.
Adding salt to injury, the 7th CPC
submitted its report with most disappointing, retrograde and worst ever
recommendations to the Govt. on 19th November, 2015 restricting the
pay hike to 14.29% without any change in the annual increment and promotional
avenues even after a gap of 10 years and more importantly withdrawing all the
12 interest-free advances and 52 allowances and thus deceiving as many as 47
lakh Central Govt. employees and 52 lakh pensioners. The demands of the JCM
Staff Side to implement the recommendations from 01.01.2014, to fix the minimum
wage at Rs.26000/- with multiplying factor of 3.27, annual increment to 5%, 5
promotion during the entire service career, abolition of Grade Pay etc have
been squarely rejected by the Commission. No change has been recommended for Casual
Leave, Maternity Leave and Leave encashment. Rather, the Commission has
recommended to reduce the HRA from 30/20/10% to 24/16/8% and 20% less pay in
the 2nd year of Child Care Leave. Relating to our specific issues, the
commission finds no justification for enhancement of minimum educational
qualifications for Direct Recruits for Postal Assistants/Sorting Assistants
from Class XII to Graduation and the entry grade pay from GP 2400 to GP 2800
and also no justification for upgrading LSG, HSG-II & HSG-I. Similar is the
case of Postman, Mail Guard and MTS. The demand for separate cadre for S As / B
Es has been denied straightway. The issues relating to GDS remained untouched.
In protest against such retrograde measures
of 7th CPC, we have already hold protest demonstrations throughout
the country and JCM Staff Side has already submitted a notice to the Cabinet
Secretary with suggested modifications. If our demands are not settled amicably
through proper negotiation, the National Joint Council of Action comprising
Confederation, Railway and Defence Federation has already decided to go for
nationwide indefinite strike from 1st week of March, 2016. The
processing of Strike Ballot among the constituents of the NJCA will soon be on
move so as to complete by end of January, 2016.
Thus, the revolution has just begun which
needs the effort of every single individual for retaining the hard-earned
benefits we have achieved through our struggle movements. Human revolution, in
just a single individual can help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation
and further in the destiny of all human kind. So unfettered by narrow
nationalist or sectarian concerns, it should be considered that every
individual is equally empowered with inner brilliance of life and however small
the effort, every individual effort certainly makes a definite difference. The
thing is that everyone should be loyal to the voice of conscience that issues
forth from deep within. When
one is affected by wrath, his mind will not be correct, when one is affected by
fear, his mind will not be correct, when one is affected by fondness, his mind
will not be correct or when one is affected by worries and anxieties to any
extent, his mind will not be correct. When the mind is not present, we look but
we do not see, listen but we do not hear and eat but do not know the taste of
the food. As a result, we fail to serve whole-heartedly. No progress is
possible unless we have a mind free from anxiety and sufficient leisure for the
development of our higher nature.
Workers
are not beggars. So, to make ourselves free from all worries and anxieties, to
live with a status and to serve our nation whole heartedly on one hand and to
retain the hard-earned benefits already achieved through rigorous struggles and
sacrifices on the other, we have to go for united struggle only under one
umbrella which needs just a promise by every individual on the eve of this new
year. To be more active and more progressive, let’s
promise to be more militant and aggressive on our issues.
Together we can move the world. One, who
can’t be taught by reason, shall be taught by force. And our force is our
togetherness and unity. We have already proved it through our several rigorous
struggle programmes from pre-independence era till date. We have fought and
achieved. The glorious history of P & T Trade Union Movement tells us that
nothing can stop us. We can achieve all
our demands through our unity and agitation, through one platform and one
voice. We have just to carry forward our glorious traditions with additions of
new ideas that will suit our future needs with an eye to the current
transformation. And it is quite possible in the era of digital world. Just a
commitment is required. A
recall to our historic struggles in the past will definitely add to our future
success.
Let the New Year unite all under one
umbrella to fight for common causes and welfare of the society and bring peace
and prosperity for all.
Happy New Year, 2016.
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