All India BSNL Pensioners’ Welfare Association (Regd. No.1833/09)
Central Headquarters
AH 189/61, 3rd Street, Aurovile Flats, Anna Nagar, Chennai-600040
President: P.S.Ramankutty General Secretary: G.Natarajan
Mobile – 09447551555 Mobile – 09444929799
Date: 31/12/2016
To
The Chairman cum Managing Director, BSNL,
Camp at Chennai.
Sir,
On behalf of our Association we wish you a very happy New Year. We also hope that BSNL under your stewardship would prosper in 2017. We welcome you, sir, to the City of Chennai.
We would like to draw your kind personal attention on the following three important issues confronted by the Retired employees.
1) Restoration of ‘without voucher’ facility under BSNLMRS to retired employees
You may be aware that most of the senior citizens are having health problems viz. BP, Sugar, Arthiritis etc. Some are having heart problems. All of them require constant medication. More than 90% of retired employees on an average spend more than Rs.3000/- p.m. for medicines. Due to cumbersome procedure many do not claim reimbursement. They are not in a position to meet the expenditure out of their pension. For the past 5 years they are suffering without the facility of ‘without voucher’. Hence we seek your intervention for restoration of that facility atleast to the retired employees.
2) Benefit of 78.2% IDA merger for those who retired prior to 10/6/2013
DoT issued orders on 18/7/2016 for extending the benefit of 50% DA merger (78.2% IDA merger) to those who retired prior to 10/6/2013. Para 7 of that order clearly states “The exercise to extend benefit of these orders to the pensioners/family pensioners should be completed by 31/12/2016”. The time-limit was part of Cabinet Note which was approved by the Cabinet. BSNL corporate office endorsed the above order on 26/7/2016 and para 3 of that order reiterates the time-limit. The said time-limit is already over but most of the BSNL units have not even forwarded the sanction to CCAs. According to our information, some circles like Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand, Chatisgarh the progress is comparatively better. But in other circles, the progress is very slow. Even in Tamilnadu circle few SSAs like Cuddalore, Coimbatore, Coonoor etc. have not completed their job. Not even 20% of pensioners/family pensioners got the benefit by this date. We seek your kind immediate intervention in this regard.
3) Concessional telephone to retired employees
On the above subject we wrote a letter on 19/9/2016 to CMD, BSNL. On 25/11/2016 we met the concerned DGM in Corporate office and discussed the issue. He assured to do the needful in this regard but till now it is not resolved. The brief of the case is as follows:
The concession was given to retired/retiring employees w.e.f. 1/10/1998 vide DoT order No.2-79/94-PHA dated 25/9/1998 and the basic condition was that one is
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eligible to this concession provided he/she has put in a minimum service of 20 years in DoT. It was further clarified by DoT vide order No.2-79/94-PHA dated 20/3/2009 under point 3 “The employees who have completed 20 years of service in DoT irrespective of whether they retire from DoT or any other department/organization, are eligible for the concessional telephone facility applicable to Retired DoT employees.
Para 4 of BSNL corporate office letter dated 20/7/2007 states “The telephone will be rent free with the following concessions in free calls over and above the free calls allowed to an ordinary subscriber”. In the text it was mentioned only free calls but in the column, it is mentioned as free local calls (Monthly).
Para 6 of the same corporate office letter dated 20/7/2007 states “concessional telephones under Retired BSNL employee category as per these instructions shall be provided under One India tariff plan irrespective of exchange capacity”.
The concept of One India tariff is ‘ one rupee call charge for anywhere in India’. In such an eventuality, allowing the concession only to local calls in the name of loss of revenue is not understandable. Further all the absorbees have completed more than 20 years service in DoT and hence they are entitled for free calls (and not free local calls) asper DoT clarificatory order dated 20/3/2009. The absorbees have not only served in DoT but also in BSNL and those BSNL retirees should be made eligible for concession atleast on par with DoT retirees, if not, more.
We request for immediate action in this regard.
Yours faithfully,
(G.Natarajan)
General Secretary.
Copy to:
Director (HR), BSNL,
Camp at Chennai
