BSNL to Launch Free Roaming From 15 June, 2015

BRIEF ON THE MEETING OF THE NAC HELD TODAY UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF JT. SECRETARY(E), DOP&T. 

National Council (Staff Side)

Joint Consultative Machinery

for Central Government Employees

13-C Fezozshah Road , New Delhi-110 001

E Mail: nc.jcm.np@ gmail.com

No.AIRF/NAC                                                                                                         Dated: May 29, 2015

All Constituents of the

National Council (JCM)(Staff Side),

Dear Comrades,

Sub: Brief on the meeting of the NAC held today under the chairmanship of Jt. Secretary(E), DoP&T,

        Government of India

As per notification No.11/1/2015-JCA dated 12.05.2015 of the DoP&T(Government of India), meeting of the National Anomaly Committee was held today under the Chairmanship of Jt. Secretary(Estt.),            Jt. Secretary(Pers.) and officials from other establishments and Ministry of Railways were also present.

At the outset, Secretary(Staff Side), National Council(JCM), Shri Shiva Gopal Mishra, expressed anguish for communication gap and non-finalization of the issues raised by the Staff Side JCM at various levels, and that is the reason, the staff working in the Central Government is quite agitated.

He also mentioned that, when we met the Secretary, DoP&T, we were given assurance that very soon meeting of the NC/JCM would be held, but unfortunately could not.

NAC was formed seven years back, and up-till now whatsoever had been agreed, that is not implemented, and wherever disagreement, items have not been sent for arbitration.

Out of 60 items, only 48 were discussed, and most of them are under review, and there are 12 items which are still pending, require urgent meeting on pending items.

Leader, Staff Side, Shri M. Raghaviah also shown his anguish and demanded meetings more frequently. Shri K.K.N. Kutty, Shri Sri Kumarand other members of the Staff Side also expressed their anguish on inordinate delay.

The J.S.(E) assured that the meeting on the pending items would be held soon. On the insistence of the Secretary(Staff Side), she agreed for the meeting on the pending items in the afternoon of 9^th June, 2015. She also agreed for giving status papers.  

  Agenda Items

Item No.1 – Review of MACP to GP of Rs.2000 where there is no such grade pay in Railways

Though the Official Side was not in the mood to make any change, but on the insistence of the Staff Side, they agreed to review the matter once again.  

Item No.2 – Granting of Additional Pay to Loco & Traffic Running Staff

The Jt. Secretary(Pers.) asked the Railways to give some more logical arguments, so that they can reconsider the issue of Additional Pay to Loco Pilots and Guards of the Goods Trains.

Item No.3 – Treatment of employees selected under LDCE/GDCE Scheme

The Official Side informed that, they have already sent a letter on 27.09.2012, that whatsoever benefit is available to the employees selected under LDCE and GDCE in the ACP, that will continue in the MACPS also. The item is closed.  

Item No.4 – Grant of minimum entry pay meant for Direct Recruits to Promotees

There had been lots of arguments and when the Staff Side insisted that, in the JCM Scheme, once the items have been finalized and we reach to an agreement in the Standing Committee, there is no provision of referring back the issue to JCM again. The Secretary Staff Side told pointblank to the Official Side that we are not going to yield on this issue, and if the Official Side feels that the Hon’ble Finance Minister has some specific objection for implementing this issue where Promotee should get bottom of the grade where Direct Recruitment is available, we would like our meeting with Hon’ble Finance Minister. The Official Side agreed that they will put up the case to the competent authority to approach the Hon’ble Finance Minister once again.

 Sd/-xxx

(Shiva Gopal Mishra)

Secretary (Staff Side) NC/JCM

& Convener

     

Minister of State for Labour & Employment (Independent Charge) writes to all Central trade unions with reference to the 10(+)2 Point Charter of Demands submitted by Trade Unions, that after consultation of Prime Minister he is detailed to discuss with the all trade unions. The Inter ministerial committee will held 2 day's meeting after International Labour Conference organizing in June in Geneva. The text of MoS Labour & Employment (IC) is reproduced below:-

BANDARU DATTATREYA

MINISTER OF STATE FOR

LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT

(INDEPENDENT CHARGE)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

SHRAM SHAKTI BHAWAN,

NEW DELHI - 110119

23rd May, 2015

To

            All Central Trade Unions

            This is with reference to the 10(+2) point charter of Demands submitted by Central Trade Unions to the Government on 24th June, 2014 and 15th September 2014.  In pursuance of the said demands, a meeting was held on 15th May, 2015 with the Central trade Unions, which was chaired by me alongwith Hon'ble Minister of State (IC) for Petroleum and Hon'ble Minister of State(IC) of Power.  Prior to the said meeting, a meeting was also held with all Central Trade Union along with Hon'ble Minister of State for Finance.

            Consequent to the said meeting, I had met with Hon'ble prime Minister and informed him about the charter of demands and issues & concerns raised by the Trade Unions.  Hon'ble Prime Minister advised me that detailed discussions be held with all Central Trade Unions through a Committee of Ministers.  I am happy to announce that the Prime Minister Office has constituted a committee comprising of Finance Minister, Minister of State Independent Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas an Minister of State Independent Charge for Power, Minister of State Prime Minister office and myself to address all issues raised by the Central Trade Unions.

            We shall be visiting Geneva for the International Labour Conference in June and immediately after return from Geneva, we shall organize two days meeting with the Central Trade Unions to carry out threadbare discussions on each of the charter of demands given by the Unions. 

            I would like to reiterate that the amendments of labour laws are taken up only after detailed deliberations and discussions with the Central Trade Unions in the Tripartite meetings and the suggestions of the Trade Unions are given due consideration.  I am enclosing a copy of the press note being released by me which indicates action taken so far on the Charter of Demands.

            In view of above, I would expect your full cooperation in the Government's endeavor to achieve not only the twin objectives of transparency and accountability but also safe guard the interest of the workers.

Yours sincerely,

sd/-

(Bandaru Dattatraya

BSNL to Launch Free Roaming From 15 June, 2015

BSNL to Launch Free Roaming From 15 June, 2015 

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FDI in Telecom Reaches Highest in Four Year

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Following is the opening statement of Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communication & IT at the press conference on one year performance.

 

Ministry of Communications & IT was in the news in the past unfortunately for the wrong reasons for a variety of factors. After the new Government took over, it was important to create optimism and confidence to generate hope for growth. This, in return, required transparency, good governance and faster decision-making. By the collective effort of all, we can say with assurance that all these elements have become integral to decision making and policy formulation which has created a conducive atmosphere for investment and growth. Some of the key elements of these achievements are being enumerated hereunder.

 

DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

·           Highest ever auction proceeds of Rs. 1,09,874 crore, against the approved reserve price of  Rs 80,277 crores. This could be achieved because of good governance practices, identification of Defence Band and release of Spectrum from Defence Ministry, which has been pending for more than six years.

·           Crossed 100 crore telephone connections in April 2015, the fastest increase in the last 11 months as compared to the previous three years raising national teledensity to 79.85 as against 75.23 in March 2014, 73.32 in March 2013 and 78.6 in March 2012.

·           Rural teledensity grew to 48.90%, an increase of 4.57% in the last 11 months. the highest increase in the last three years (43.18 in March  2014, 41.6 in March 2013 and 39 in March 2012)

·           The number of broadband connections, i.e. connections with a speed of 512 kbps or higher, increased from 65.33 million in May 2014 to 99.20 million in March 2015 with unprecedented growth of 52% in the last 10 months.

·           Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow in the telecom sector touched $ 2853 million in 2014-15 (upto February 2015). It was the highest in the last four years ($1307 million in 2013-14, $304 million in 2012-13, $1997 million in 2011-12 and $1665 million in 2010-11).

Initiatives to revive BSNL and MTNL

·           BSNL revenue grew by 2.1% in 2014-15reversing the trend of negative growth in previous years.

·           BSNL added 47 lakh active subscribers and MTNL added 2.11 lakh subscribers in 2014-15 reversing the trend of negative growth in previous years.

·           BSNL is in the process of setting up 25645 new base transceiver stations (BTSs) in Phase-VII of its expansion plan at a cost of Rs 4,805 crore, its first such investment plan in over five years. 15000 such BTSs installed in the last one year.

·           BSNL replacing network of landline local exchanges by IP (Internet Protocol) enabled Next Generation Network. 432 telephone exchanges and 70 lakh telephone lines are being replaced.

·           MTNL is setting up / upgrading 1080 3G sites in Delhi and Mumbai each and 850 2G sites in Delhi and 616 2G sites in Mumbai.

·           BSNL and MTNL have launched unlimited free local calls from landlines to any landline/mobile during night hours effective from May 1, 2015.

·           BSNL is launching free national roaming.

·           Hundred (100) WiFi hotspots at important tourist locations like Varanasi Ghats, Hussain Sagar Lake-Hyderabad, Bangalore, Cochin, Vijayawada etc. have been established by BSNL.

Other important initiatives

·           Full Mobile Number Portability (FMNP) notified to allow subscribers to retain their mobile number across the country and enable linking the mobile to Aadhar completing the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhar-Mobile) trinity of unique identity.

·           Bharat Net (National Optical Fibre Network - NOFN ) is the largest rural connectivity project of its kind in the world, seeking to link each of the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of the country, through a Broadband Optical Fibre Network. The work of laying optical fibre network has been speeded up (by 30 times) in the last 10 months. To make the entire project more effective in tune with the Digital India programme, a committee was constituted for further improvement and speedy implementation to serve the larger purpose of Broadband to all. Conference of State IT Ministers was held to discuss the report of committee. Many State governments have agreed in principle to effectively collaborate in implementation of Bharat Net.

 

DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

·                Post offices modernized with 2590 Post Offices having 14.55 crore accounts migrated to Core Banking Solution and 115 Post Office ATMs commissioned.

·                13264 Post Offices have been migrated to Core Postal Life Insurance.

·                Procurement of biometric solar charged mobile devices with wireless connectivity to 1,30,000 rural Post Offices is presently underway.

·                Sukanya Samridhi Yojana launched on January 22, 2015, has now more than 47 lakh accounts with a total investment of more than Rs 570 crores.

·                Kisan Vikas Patra re-launched on November 18, 2014 has attracted investment of about Rs 2600 crore.     

·                Speed Post revenue grew to Rs 1470 crore in 2014-15 from Rs 1369 crore in the previous year. In CAG report laid in Parliament on May 8, 2015, on the basis of a detailed test check in 8 States, it has been highlighted that the quality of Speed Post service is far better than that of private couriers.

·                Parcel revenue growth which had dipped to-2% in 2013-14, registered a robust growth of 37% in 2014-15.

·                Cash on Delivery collections increased five times to reach Rs 500 crore in 2014-15 as compared to Rs 100 crore in the previous year.        

 

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & IT

Electronics Manufacturing:

·                Modified Special Incentive Package (MSIPs): Till May 2015, 63 investment proposals worth Rs. 20,825 crore received. 40 proposals worth Rs. 9,565 crore approved. Till May 2014, only 8 proposals worth Rs. 1152 crore investment were approved.

·                Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs): Till May 2015, 39 applications received, 21 approved in principle. Two EMCs at Bhopal and Jabalpur given final approval and foundation stone laid. Till May 2014, only 8 applications approved in principle.

·                Electronic Development Fund approved by Cabinet on 10th December, 2014.

New pro-people initiatives:

·               Digital India is a mission mode flagship programme, aimed at bridging the digital divide by providing a digital infrastructure for utility of citizens, digital delivery of services and digital empowerment.

·                Jeevan Pramaan: 2.02 lakh Digital Life Certificates produced.

·                Digital Locker: Beta version launched. 1.24 lakh lockers opened.

·                E-Hospital Registration: Started on May 8, 2015. More than 5421 appointments given.

·                National Scholarship Portal for one stop solutions for scholarships for students.

·                eBasta: Supports publishers to upload content, schools to collate and students to download on tablet, PC and Phone.

Digital Inclusion:

·               Rural BPOs: 48,000 seats across different states for Rural BPOs approved.

·               North East BPOs: 5000 seats for BPOs in North East approved.

·               Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISA): scheme expanded to cover 52.50 lakh candidates, when compared to a target of only 10 lakh last year.

New Policy Initiatives:

·         Policy on Open Source Software approved in April, 2015.

·         Policy on Collaborative Application Development sent for notification on 11.05.2015.

·         Email Policy approved on 18^th February, 2015.

·         e-Sign Framework has been initiated.

·         Policy on use of IT resources approved on 18^th February, 2015.

·         Policy on Internet of Things has been drafted.

Promoting Indian Languages:

·               Updated Indian Languages Toolkit available in all 22 languages now. Earlier it was available only for 10 languages.

·               Internationalised Domain Names: Domain name .bharat launched in 8 languages of Devnagari script and in Gujarati, Bengali and Manipuri.

NNK/MD

Source : PIB, Release ID :122222