ALL INDIA BSNL EXECUTIVES’ ASSOCIATION

CHENNAI TELEPHONES

CIRCLE PRESIDENT FIN.SECRETARY CIRCLE SECRETARY

K.VAIDAYANATHAN V.CHANDRASEKARAN P.UDAYASURIYAN

AIBSNLEA/ChTD/2015-16 / Key Note Address Date: 22-05-2015

Respected President of this evening Function, Respected Chief Guest, Senior officers, our beloved G.S, MediaFraternity and my dear Comrades, It is a privilege to stand before this august gathering on this momentous occasion of our Fifth Circle Conference and I once again extend my hearty welcome to one and all present. It is an opportunity to share some valuable inputs concerning the development of BSNL in general and Chennai Telephones in particular during the course of this open session.

We are proud to have our new & Dynamic Head of circle Ms.S.M.Kalavathi amidst us today and we are of the firm opinion that the Chennai Telephones District will flourish in the days to come.

The last two years witnessed a series of positive development for the Executive fraternity across BSNL by way of release of promotion orders both Adhoc & Regular. Because of the sustained efforts of all the Associations we were able to clear the impasse and got our Regular promotions and the DPC is now up to date both in Engineering and Finance wing. Though this was a welcome step, the Executives of Chennai Telephones could not reap the real benefit since majority of our colleagues were ordered for posting elsewhere across BSNL Circle despite sufficient and surplus vacancy in this commercially important Metro.

However with gratitude we have to recall the efforts of our present CGM who was holding HR & ADMN portfolio then by way of consistent persuasion with the BSNL CO that resulted in retention of some genuine cases.But still some more individual cases are pending and through this Open session I appeal to our CGM to use her good offices for permanent retention of these few deserving officers whose fate is still hanging in balance. We also request our CGM to initiate the necessary steps to bring back the talented Executives transferred out from Chennai Telephones to other circles once they complete the two years period and this was also assured by the then Sr.G.M.Personnel to all the Association CHQ leaders at the time of DPC in July 2013 & August 2014.

On the Developmental activities, we are not able to proceed much in the recent years due to resource constraints but with the recent appointment of a full-fledged CMD, it is hoped that a complete review of the system will take place and constraints removed. The fresh initiative by our CMD to offer free calls from Land Line to any mobile between 21.00 Hrs. to 07.00 Hrs. is really one such bold move and the feedback from Exchanges indicates there is a phenomenal increase in the call volumes between 22-00 and 23.00 hrs.,for the past two weeks as compared to the same period earlier. Though this may not result in terms of revenue realization, we will certainly be able to increase our customer base that will ultimately result in increased revenue. At this point I would like to request our Top Management to make available necessary stores like drop wires and cables on time to cash in the prospective demand otherwise we will be failing miserably in the hands of our competitors..

Comrades, the above word of caution is born out of a conscious reading of media reports during the recent past and also over the years.To cite a few, one of our competitor also has now come up with a matching offer of free calls at night and this may leadto erosion of our customer base if we do not act on time. Secondly, the Revenue of one of our Competitor has reached about 85,000 Crore last fiscal and their profit has stood at about 8000 crore which is to be taken note of with due importance.It is an irony if we recall the observation of our first CMD in October 2000 after formation of BSNL where in for a question from a reporter about facing the competition from private players, he has observed that it will take a minimum 10 years for the new entrants to reach our level. But the hard fact is that they have overtaken us much earlier and are marching ahead now.Though many reasons can beattributed to our failure, we feel the indecisiveness on the part of top management for years together till recently is definitely the root cause.

With regard to implementation of ERP in Chennai Telephones, we are of the firm opinion that this has really increased the work load of the Executives be it in Engineering or in Finance. If the Administration has listened to the appeal from Associations to defer the date of implementation so as to enable complete data purification before Go Live,things wouldnot have become to such a mess now. I hope all will appreciate that this situation is quite contrast to our achievement during CDR GO LIVE when our Executives worked as a Team and the Administration extended due support then.

As far as another important Field issue of shortage of staff at all levels is concerned, our constant plea to the management for a complete work study that will pave way for suitable redeployment has not yielded results so far and with our new CGM taking charge, we are of the hope that things will move in the right direction. Similarly when clubbing of SSAs in to Business Area is order of the day, it is nothing but proper to concede our long pending demand of rearranging the Areas and make them as three (North, South and Central) instead of the present four that will definitely result in better monitoring and reduce the stress on our top Managers.

On the issue of Transfer of Executives to CPT SSA,we take this opportunity to appeal our new CGM to firmly take up the matter with BSNL CO and declare CPT SSA as “Soft Tenure” that will offer All India Transfer immunity to those Executives served in these places. This situation is not without any precedence and it is prevailing in our neighboring circles like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka where the officers opt for “Soft Tenure” postings within the Circle to avoid All India transfers. Simultaneously we appeal to our GS also to take up this issue with our DIR-HR so that uniform policies are adopted across BSNL for “Soft Tenure Stations” within the Circle.

Another Sensitive issue is the plight of our departmental TTAs who have been performing the job of a JTO on a look on basis for several years in the Field but are denied the due compensation. This is a crucial HR issue to be taken up with the BSNL CO on top priority by our GS.

I also would like to repeat our earlier request to the management for having a re look at the functioning of RTTC and DTTC. It will be wise to have a single training Centre at CTTC, while converting RTTC, M.M .Nagar in to an Engineering Centre of Excellence with private participation from reputed institutes. It will be a good food for thought for both the Heads of Circles CGM-Ch.TD & CGM-TN Circle present here. We also request our GS to take up this with BSNL CO.

On the Finance aspect also there are still some loose knots by way of unsettled pay anomalies, amenities to staff and Executives, etc., that require personal intervention of our P.GM (Finance) who is not new to Chennai Telephones set up. Similarly the issues regarding payment of Electricity Bills for which MOU is pending is to be speeded up as otherwise the delay in payment is costing dear by way of penal interest. The Rent fixation and subsequent payment of the same with regard to Cell Tower Sites especially in rural Areas is another important issue to be taken care of to avoid un necessary tension to the Field Officers.

I am proud to state that Chennai Telephones has outperformed in Enterprise Business Area where we have taken lead role by increasing FTTH customer base, LeasedCircuits etc., and we had the appreciation from DIR-EB, BSNL Corporate Office in this regard.This achievement could be possible due to sustained efforts of our Staff and Officers in that wing ably supported and guided by our Sr.GM Sri.R.Ganesan.

Sri.R.Ganesan,ITS has also effectively managed the vast Transmission network across Chennai despite increased developmental activities in this metro causing frequent disturbance of our Cable and OFC network. Our Executives have extended the best cooperation to his efforts since Team spirit was the guiding factor in all his decisions.

While Transmission and EB are the most important zone, the Senior Officers heading other Areas are second to none and we express our sincere gratitude and thanks to all of them for their lead role to ensure Chennai Telephones continue as one of the main profit Centre for BSNL.

Organizationally, we the Executives of AIBSNLEA are always identified with dedication and hard work. We are the only Association to constantly update our Management of the Field constraints and at the same time offer solutions also. We always belief in exploring the path of negotiation first and it is this spirit that has brought laurels to our Association. We never hesitate to point fingers if a mistake is committed by the management and at the same time we never failed to appreciate the good initiative of the management.

While on behalf of AIBSNLEA, we assure our untiring efforts to regain the customer base, we feel that it is a Team work where in the Management also must come forward to ensure a good atmosphere with suitable freedom to exercise the delegated power. But for some solvable contentious issues, we are really thankful to the Administration Team including Finance for their effective functioning that ensured overall Industrial Harmony in Chennai Telephones.

Comrades, Chennai Telephones were always the reference point for our BSNL CO whenever a new initiative is thought of and we must keep up this importance by way of our continued better performance. Let us re dedicate ourselves to achieve the target through tireless efforts.

Thanking you all for a patient hearing,

AIBSNLEA ZINDABAD! LONG LIVE EXECUTIVES’UNITY!!

With warm greetings,

P.UDAYASURIYAN

Circle Secretary

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