Posts
All the 55,000 officers pray for the successful bypass surgery of our Prime Minister Sri Manmohan Singh and we send our support for Mrs Manmohan Singh at this crucial time of her family. We all wish him a speedy recovery and return to his family at the earliest.
God is great.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Blog Song - Let our Struggle be kindled by imbibing the Virtues of the True Vaishnav
Translation of the Blog Song -"Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye" [It plays automatically when you load the page but you can pause it by clicking the pause button on the player appearing at the top left side of the page.]
A Manager from GAIL has dedicated this Famous Song to the Struggle of the Oil Sector Officers against Injustice & Vindictiveness of the Authorities. This song praises the virtues of a True Vaishnav- the worshipper of Vishnu. Vishnu as we all know is the Vishnu the maintainer or preserver.
Vaishanav: A follower of Lord Vishnu. Strict vegetarianism, ahimsa & simplicity are the hallmarks of a true vaishnav. TheBhajan is in essence a "definition" of "vaishnav". OSOA and Oil Sector Officers too believe in the path of Ahimsa (non aggressive means to achieve our goals) but just like in the Mahabharata Lord Vishnu called upon Arjuna to raise his arms against Injustice OSOA too was forced to resort to the 60 hrs Strike after being forced by circumstances described on these pages.
We pray that the opponents of OSOA understand that the path to Ahimsa is the best path and stop the acts of retribution against the officers and office bearers by their various acts of suspensions, terminations, pay cuts (inspite of making people work for extra hours/shifts/ days). The song is dedicated to all those who love peace. May sense prevail.
Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je[One who is a vaishnav]
PeeD paraayi jaaNe re
[Knows the pain of others]
Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye
[Does good to others, esp. to those ones who are in misery]
Man abhimaan na aaNe re
[Does not let pride enter his mind]
Vaishnav...
SakaL lok maan sahune vande
[A Vaishnav, Tolerates and praises the the entire world]
Nindaa na kare keni re
[Does not say bad things about anyone]
Vaach kaachh man nishchaL raakhe
[Keeps his/her words, actions and thoughts pure]
Dhan-dhan janani teni re
[O Vaishnav, your mother is blessed (dhanya-dhanya)]
Vaishnav...
Sam-drishti ne trishna tyaagi
[A Vaishnav sees everything equally, rejects greed and avarice]
Par-stree jene maat re
[Considers some one else's wife/daughter as his mother]
Jivha thaki asatya na bole
[The toungue may get tired, but will never speak lies]
Par-dhan nav jhaalee haath re
[Does not even touch someone else's property]
Vaishnav...
Moh-maaya vyaape nahi jene
[A Vaishnav does not succumb to worldly attachments]
DriDh vairaagya jena man maan re
[Who has devoted himself to stauch detachment to worldly
pleasures]
Ram naam shoon taaLi laagi
[Who has been edicted to the elixir coming by the name of Ram]
SakaL tirath tena tan maan re
[For whom all the religious sites are in the mind]
Vaishnav...
VaN-lobhi ne kapaT-rahit chhe
[Who has no greed and deciet]
Kaam-krodh nivaarya re
[Who has renounced lust of all types and anger]
BhaNe Narsaiyyo tenun darshan karta
[The poet Narsi will like to see such a person]
KuL ekoter taarya re
[By who's virtue, the entire family gets salvation]
Vaishnav...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Media's Chosen Victims - Coomi Kapoor: 19-01-09 Indianexpress
Media choses its Victims. This is what even media people say about their own people. Read on- this material from Express India Blog site.
TV personality Karan Thapar, known for his hard-hitting interviews, did a role-reversal at the end of the year. He asked one of the guests on his show, Arun Jaitley, to interview him. Jaitley was polite, but his questions were pointed. One of the queries, I thought, really hit home. Why was Thapar so harsh with Indian politicians and so deferential towards Pakistani personalities?
It is a charge which can be leveled not just against Thapar but all of us in the media. And I include myself among the guilty. We journalists select carefully whom to make a punching bag and whom to handle with kid gloves.
Take for instance the way journalists generally appear overwhelmed when granted an audience with a member of the Gandhi family. They adopt a reverential—almost fawning—tone. I recall when Rahul Gandhi made his debut in Indian politics, hardened veterans on the political beat returned from the Amethi constituency star-struck by the cute, clever, committed, computer-savvy Gandhi scion. Naturally no embarrassing questions about the family firm were raised.
Some journalists who want to establish their secular credentials believe that the best way to do so is to cross question politicians from the BJP or VHP in a manner which is not just rude, but almost offensive. Strangely, the same lot of scribes can be as protective as a mother hen towards politicians claiming to represent deprived sections of society or minorities. At press conferences, they can even pounce on newspersons who pose provocative questions. Sometimes they interrupt and answer on behalf of their favourite politicians.
Double standards in the media are visible on many fronts. If Deve Gowda as Prime Minister snoozed at a meeting, then all the cameras focused on him. When other, more sophisticated, Prime Ministers dozed off, it was made out that they were in deep contemplation. Shivraj Patil is the butt of many media jokes, but most would hesitate to be less than complimentary about P Chidambaram. Mamata Banerjee and Uma Bharati are fair game, but few want to ruffle Prakash Karat.
Last year on her birthday, Mayawati flew down to Delhi and held a press conference at the ballroom of a five-star hotel. The Capital's scribes waited for more than half an hour before the UP chief minister walked in imperiously followed by a long train of her relatives, the kith and kin of her close aide S C Mishra and a string of officials from Lucknow. The Delhi media watched patiently for another 15 minutes as Mayawati, dripping diamonds, was garlanded by various persons from her retinue, whose names were duly announced. No one objected to this circus. Later at the press conference no one put any hard hitting questions to UP's czarina, who simply delivered a lecture on her schemes for the state.
In contrast, I can recall many a press conference where journalists haughtily threatened to walk out if they were kept waiting for more than ten minutes. The late arriving politician had to literally beg and plead for forgiveness. Many a time politicians passing around press handouts about development work have been told bluntly by the media that the handouts will be thrown in the dustbin, they want only hard news.
The tendency to treat people differently is due partly to our personal predilections. But there is also a human weakness to pick on the weak and avoid taking on a bully. A personality who has the clout to retaliate or can cut you off from news sources and blacklist you from future interviews is not someone whose feathers you like to ruffle. It is a truth universally acknowledged in the media that it is hara-kiri to bite the hand that feeds you stories. Correspondents covering the Ministry of External Affairs avoid antagonizing the mandarins of South Block, defence correspondents are wary of upsetting the chiefs of the Armed Forces and crime reporters don't question the fishy detective work of those supplying them with scoops on their so-called investigations.
http://blogs.expressindia.com/showblogdetails.php?contentid=412637
TV personality Karan Thapar, known for his hard-hitting interviews, did a role-reversal at the end of the year. He asked one of the guests on his show, Arun Jaitley, to interview him. Jaitley was polite, but his questions were pointed. One of the queries, I thought, really hit home. Why was Thapar so harsh with Indian politicians and so deferential towards Pakistani personalities?
It is a charge which can be leveled not just against Thapar but all of us in the media. And I include myself among the guilty. We journalists select carefully whom to make a punching bag and whom to handle with kid gloves.
Take for instance the way journalists generally appear overwhelmed when granted an audience with a member of the Gandhi family. They adopt a reverential—almost fawning—tone. I recall when Rahul Gandhi made his debut in Indian politics, hardened veterans on the political beat returned from the Amethi constituency star-struck by the cute, clever, committed, computer-savvy Gandhi scion. Naturally no embarrassing questions about the family firm were raised.
Some journalists who want to establish their secular credentials believe that the best way to do so is to cross question politicians from the BJP or VHP in a manner which is not just rude, but almost offensive. Strangely, the same lot of scribes can be as protective as a mother hen towards politicians claiming to represent deprived sections of society or minorities. At press conferences, they can even pounce on newspersons who pose provocative questions. Sometimes they interrupt and answer on behalf of their favourite politicians.
Double standards in the media are visible on many fronts. If Deve Gowda as Prime Minister snoozed at a meeting, then all the cameras focused on him. When other, more sophisticated, Prime Ministers dozed off, it was made out that they were in deep contemplation. Shivraj Patil is the butt of many media jokes, but most would hesitate to be less than complimentary about P Chidambaram. Mamata Banerjee and Uma Bharati are fair game, but few want to ruffle Prakash Karat.
Last year on her birthday, Mayawati flew down to Delhi and held a press conference at the ballroom of a five-star hotel. The Capital's scribes waited for more than half an hour before the UP chief minister walked in imperiously followed by a long train of her relatives, the kith and kin of her close aide S C Mishra and a string of officials from Lucknow. The Delhi media watched patiently for another 15 minutes as Mayawati, dripping diamonds, was garlanded by various persons from her retinue, whose names were duly announced. No one objected to this circus. Later at the press conference no one put any hard hitting questions to UP's czarina, who simply delivered a lecture on her schemes for the state.
In contrast, I can recall many a press conference where journalists haughtily threatened to walk out if they were kept waiting for more than ten minutes. The late arriving politician had to literally beg and plead for forgiveness. Many a time politicians passing around press handouts about development work have been told bluntly by the media that the handouts will be thrown in the dustbin, they want only hard news.
The tendency to treat people differently is due partly to our personal predilections. But there is also a human weakness to pick on the weak and avoid taking on a bully. A personality who has the clout to retaliate or can cut you off from news sources and blacklist you from future interviews is not someone whose feathers you like to ruffle. It is a truth universally acknowledged in the media that it is hara-kiri to bite the hand that feeds you stories. Correspondents covering the Ministry of External Affairs avoid antagonizing the mandarins of South Block, defence correspondents are wary of upsetting the chiefs of the Armed Forces and crime reporters don't question the fishy detective work of those supplying them with scoops on their so-called investigations.
http://blogs.expressindia.com/showblogdetails.php?contentid=412637
Letter to Editors of Newspapers by Aggrieved Officers
Dear Editors
First, we thank on behalf of all the PSU oilfield officers for bringing out the real facts behind the oil strike recently by some newspapers. It was a moment of grief and deep disappointment when we were called ‘Deshdrohis’, ‘Traitors’, ‘Blackmailers’, etc.
Sir, officers of Oil PSU's are not goondas, gang leaders, anti-social elements or terrorists to take the country for ransom. They are all educated, responsible and dedicated officers of the most profit making and fortune 500 companies. It is very easy to enact ESMA and threaten an upright middle class man who went through the right procedures before going on strike in our democratic country. Officers and their families are deeply disturbed, demoralised and demotivated by the actions of the government and the media.
We definitely feel there is a bigger conspiracy and some vested interest to tarnish the image of these profit making Navratna PSU's. These are world class companies providing huge revenue to the goverment and subsidies to the common public.
IS THIS THE RIGHT PATH TO PRIVATIZATION?
Here are some of the recent government actions to ponder
1. Reliance had closed its petrol pumps due to crude oil price, no ESMA or nor they are deshdrohis.
2. Private air-liners like JET and KingFisher had stopped flights few months back, government had financially bailed out for 3 to 6 months time for repayment of ATF charges. (& that too at the cost of PSU oil companies who were asked to extend credit when we all know that the Oil Cos are losing money due to high crude prices)
3. JET airways had sacked its employees, government and political parties intervened to stop them from such actions.
4. Satyam carried out 7000 crores fraud and government plans to bail out with financial aids.
However if an oil psu worker goes on strike as a last resort after repeated failure of talks and inaction from government officials for more than 2 years, then he is a Deshdrohi, Traitor, Blackmailer…etc.
India is a great democracy with a liberalized economy and visionary leaders like our Prime Minister, dismantling APM in Oil sector and providing opportunities for private sector to explore our country for oil & gas through NELP. In this competitive environment, PSU’s are no more charity organizations nor are the employees working for charity. These Oil PSU's have to compete with private companies like Reliance, BG, Shell, Cairn Energy..etc. To compete you need good performance, and for good performance you need motivated working employees and officers. Many experienced and talented officers have left these PSU's and joined Reliance and other Pvt companies because they provide better pay and facilitites. It is this attrition which led to the demands to save the Oil PSU's from becoming sick units.
Its was quite surprising how media had misinformed the general public by reporting that junior officers had a starting pay of Rs One Lakh. An experienced Oil PSU employee gets below Rs.50000/- even after rendering 10 – 15 years of service. Moreover, it is quite illogical to compare the salaries of high court judges with PSU officers. Can we compare the powers, authority and status of judges, collectors or defence officers to a PSU officer, who is an ordinary citizen by status. Oil PSU officers did not ask salaries comparable to the IT industry which is very highly paid. Demand was only to compete with private oil players like Reliance, reduce attrition and prevent national oil companies becoming sick units. I quote the former MoP&NG Mr. Mani Shanker Aiyer " If you pay peanuts, only monkeys will be left in ONGC."
It was quite heart-breaking to listen to the media calling our officers ‘Deshdrohis’, ‘Traitors’, ‘Blackmailers’, etc. Media was totally biased and hijacked by the government with the help of private oil players and vested interests. Media outright rejected to report the officers view and demanded huge amounts in several lakhs of rupees to air and present the real facts. A corrupt media will lead a nation to disaster.
OSOA did not go on strike overnight, they put their demands long back, had informed the government ministry about resentment in the pay revision package. Oil companies had several meetings with management and govt. officials past two years, had carried out dharnas, hunger strike, work to rule, etc before issuing strike notice when all talks and promises failed. Even the strike dates were defered for various reasons, what was the govt. and the petroleum ministry doing all this time? Officers had resorted to strike after losing their patience due to the INACTION of Government officials. Why questions are not raised against these bureaucrats?
IS THIS THE RIGHT PATH TO PRIVATIZATION?
PLEASE SAVE OUR COMPANIES FROM BECOMING SICK UNITS.
Jai Hind
Sincere Officers (Names withheld to avoid draconian measures by Govt.)
OIL PSU
First, we thank on behalf of all the PSU oilfield officers for bringing out the real facts behind the oil strike recently by some newspapers. It was a moment of grief and deep disappointment when we were called ‘Deshdrohis’, ‘Traitors’, ‘Blackmailers’, etc.
Sir, officers of Oil PSU's are not goondas, gang leaders, anti-social elements or terrorists to take the country for ransom. They are all educated, responsible and dedicated officers of the most profit making and fortune 500 companies. It is very easy to enact ESMA and threaten an upright middle class man who went through the right procedures before going on strike in our democratic country. Officers and their families are deeply disturbed, demoralised and demotivated by the actions of the government and the media.
We definitely feel there is a bigger conspiracy and some vested interest to tarnish the image of these profit making Navratna PSU's. These are world class companies providing huge revenue to the goverment and subsidies to the common public.
IS THIS THE RIGHT PATH TO PRIVATIZATION?
Here are some of the recent government actions to ponder
1. Reliance had closed its petrol pumps due to crude oil price, no ESMA or nor they are deshdrohis.
2. Private air-liners like JET and KingFisher had stopped flights few months back, government had financially bailed out for 3 to 6 months time for repayment of ATF charges. (& that too at the cost of PSU oil companies who were asked to extend credit when we all know that the Oil Cos are losing money due to high crude prices)
3. JET airways had sacked its employees, government and political parties intervened to stop them from such actions.
4. Satyam carried out 7000 crores fraud and government plans to bail out with financial aids.
However if an oil psu worker goes on strike as a last resort after repeated failure of talks and inaction from government officials for more than 2 years, then he is a Deshdrohi, Traitor, Blackmailer…etc.
India is a great democracy with a liberalized economy and visionary leaders like our Prime Minister, dismantling APM in Oil sector and providing opportunities for private sector to explore our country for oil & gas through NELP. In this competitive environment, PSU’s are no more charity organizations nor are the employees working for charity. These Oil PSU's have to compete with private companies like Reliance, BG, Shell, Cairn Energy..etc. To compete you need good performance, and for good performance you need motivated working employees and officers. Many experienced and talented officers have left these PSU's and joined Reliance and other Pvt companies because they provide better pay and facilitites. It is this attrition which led to the demands to save the Oil PSU's from becoming sick units.
Its was quite surprising how media had misinformed the general public by reporting that junior officers had a starting pay of Rs One Lakh. An experienced Oil PSU employee gets below Rs.50000/- even after rendering 10 – 15 years of service. Moreover, it is quite illogical to compare the salaries of high court judges with PSU officers. Can we compare the powers, authority and status of judges, collectors or defence officers to a PSU officer, who is an ordinary citizen by status. Oil PSU officers did not ask salaries comparable to the IT industry which is very highly paid. Demand was only to compete with private oil players like Reliance, reduce attrition and prevent national oil companies becoming sick units. I quote the former MoP&NG Mr. Mani Shanker Aiyer " If you pay peanuts, only monkeys will be left in ONGC."
It was quite heart-breaking to listen to the media calling our officers ‘Deshdrohis’, ‘Traitors’, ‘Blackmailers’, etc. Media was totally biased and hijacked by the government with the help of private oil players and vested interests. Media outright rejected to report the officers view and demanded huge amounts in several lakhs of rupees to air and present the real facts. A corrupt media will lead a nation to disaster.
OSOA did not go on strike overnight, they put their demands long back, had informed the government ministry about resentment in the pay revision package. Oil companies had several meetings with management and govt. officials past two years, had carried out dharnas, hunger strike, work to rule, etc before issuing strike notice when all talks and promises failed. Even the strike dates were defered for various reasons, what was the govt. and the petroleum ministry doing all this time? Officers had resorted to strike after losing their patience due to the INACTION of Government officials. Why questions are not raised against these bureaucrats?
IS THIS THE RIGHT PATH TO PRIVATIZATION?
PLEASE SAVE OUR COMPANIES FROM BECOMING SICK UNITS.
Jai Hind
Sincere Officers (Names withheld to avoid draconian measures by Govt.)
OIL PSU
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Business of reporting the truth had been slowly subverted by the mass production of ignorance: Big B's Blog
Check out Big B's blog on Big Adda
Here is what he writes about a journalist :
Quote:
It is a book authored by an award -winning journalist who decided to break Fleet Street’s (the Wall Street of the print media) unwritten rule by investigating his own colleagues and found that the business of reporting the truth had been slowly subverted by the mass production of ignorance.
‘Finally’, says the author, ‘I was forced to admit that I work in a corrupted profession.’
His Prologue in the book was even more revealing.
‘Dog doesn’t eat dog’, he says. ’That’s always been the rule in Fleet Street. We dig into the world of politics and finance and sport and policing and entertainment. We dig wherever we like - but not in our own back garden. In the last fifteen years we have started running media pages, but the truth is they are primarily to attract advertisements; they don’t really put the spade in too deep.’
He then goes on to describe, how when working with a prominent paper, a fellow colleague was caught out badly when he filed a speculative description of a prominent and sensational execution, six hours before it actually happened. All would have been well with this imaginary story and its details would probably have gone unnoticed, had it not been for the unfortunate leaking of a video of the hanging. The journalist, with some courage, however, confessed all this on his blog. His openness, much to his dismay, did not go down well with his bosses. His entry in the blog was rapidly deleted and a message was sent out to all staff warning them to ‘think carefully before blogging about journalistic tricks of the trade’ !
So.. there !! ‘Imaginary material is nothing worse than a “trick of the trade”; and we’ll have no real reporting about reporting’ says the author.
He goes on to say that -
‘Over the years which I then spent running around with a note-book in my pocket, of course I came to see that frequently we fail to tell the truth. The unavoidable reality of journalism is that all of our work is tethered by a deadline and we can never be free to roam as far we want in search of the evidence we need. On the best of days, everything we write is compromised by error. And, of course, I knew, too, that from time to time there was some seriously dodgy behavior going on behind the headlines.’
And more -
‘…I had no idea of just how weakened we had become, just how prone we now are to fail to tell the truth. I’m not talking about journalists making mistakes. Mistakes can be honest. (And it is a very safe bet that there are mistakes in this book). I’m talking about the individual dishonest, hack scumbags who bring our whole profession into disrepute. There are still good, brave, honest people working in this industry. I’m talking about the fact that almost all journalists across the whole developed world now work within a kind of professional cage which distorts their work and crushes their spirit. I’m talking about the fact that finally I was forced to admit that I work in a corrupted profession.’
In conclusion he says -
‘I should add that a great many working journalists helped me on this project. They did so willingly, because like me they can see no good reason why journalism should be exempt from the kind of scrutiny which we bring to bear on the rest of the world. For reasons of professional survival, most of them did so on the understanding that I would not name them. But they are there and, to the extent that this book may attract the hostility of some in Fleet Street, I am proud of the fact that numerous colleagues are better than that.’
‘So. Let dog eat dog.’
Endquote
Wonderful! Anybody read this book? Who is this Journalist who authored the book? We must all thank him for the truth about the profession and maybe can tell him what the Indian Media did.
Here is what he writes about a journalist :
Quote:
It is a book authored by an award -winning journalist who decided to break Fleet Street’s (the Wall Street of the print media) unwritten rule by investigating his own colleagues and found that the business of reporting the truth had been slowly subverted by the mass production of ignorance.
‘Finally’, says the author, ‘I was forced to admit that I work in a corrupted profession.’
His Prologue in the book was even more revealing.
‘Dog doesn’t eat dog’, he says. ’That’s always been the rule in Fleet Street. We dig into the world of politics and finance and sport and policing and entertainment. We dig wherever we like - but not in our own back garden. In the last fifteen years we have started running media pages, but the truth is they are primarily to attract advertisements; they don’t really put the spade in too deep.’
He then goes on to describe, how when working with a prominent paper, a fellow colleague was caught out badly when he filed a speculative description of a prominent and sensational execution, six hours before it actually happened. All would have been well with this imaginary story and its details would probably have gone unnoticed, had it not been for the unfortunate leaking of a video of the hanging. The journalist, with some courage, however, confessed all this on his blog. His openness, much to his dismay, did not go down well with his bosses. His entry in the blog was rapidly deleted and a message was sent out to all staff warning them to ‘think carefully before blogging about journalistic tricks of the trade’ !
So.. there !! ‘Imaginary material is nothing worse than a “trick of the trade”; and we’ll have no real reporting about reporting’ says the author.
He goes on to say that -
‘Over the years which I then spent running around with a note-book in my pocket, of course I came to see that frequently we fail to tell the truth. The unavoidable reality of journalism is that all of our work is tethered by a deadline and we can never be free to roam as far we want in search of the evidence we need. On the best of days, everything we write is compromised by error. And, of course, I knew, too, that from time to time there was some seriously dodgy behavior going on behind the headlines.’
And more -
‘…I had no idea of just how weakened we had become, just how prone we now are to fail to tell the truth. I’m not talking about journalists making mistakes. Mistakes can be honest. (And it is a very safe bet that there are mistakes in this book). I’m talking about the individual dishonest, hack scumbags who bring our whole profession into disrepute. There are still good, brave, honest people working in this industry. I’m talking about the fact that almost all journalists across the whole developed world now work within a kind of professional cage which distorts their work and crushes their spirit. I’m talking about the fact that finally I was forced to admit that I work in a corrupted profession.’
In conclusion he says -
‘I should add that a great many working journalists helped me on this project. They did so willingly, because like me they can see no good reason why journalism should be exempt from the kind of scrutiny which we bring to bear on the rest of the world. For reasons of professional survival, most of them did so on the understanding that I would not name them. But they are there and, to the extent that this book may attract the hostility of some in Fleet Street, I am proud of the fact that numerous colleagues are better than that.’
‘So. Let dog eat dog.’
Endquote
Wonderful! Anybody read this book? Who is this Journalist who authored the book? We must all thank him for the truth about the profession and maybe can tell him what the Indian Media did.
Assam Tribune EDITORIAL: The Oil PSU strike: other side of the story
The Oil PSU strike: other side of the story— A. Krishnatreya (All of you please write a thanks letter to him at edit.tribune@gmail.com. Remember to thank those who tell the facts of both sides and blast those who hide one side of the story.)
During the recent strike by the Oil PSU employees, which badly hit the country’s economy and brought life to a grinding halt in many cities, it was natural for the people to censure the striking employees in the toughest words. This is because of the general perception that oil sector PSUs like ONGC, IOC, GAIL etc are already very highly paid and any further demand for better pay is unjustified. The media left no stone unturned in proving that the striking employees are getting much more than their due and the only way to address their grievances is to suspend them or take strict measures. Yes, it is true that a strike which can cripple the Indian economy is not justified, but why did such a strike have to take place at all? Has anyone presented the other side of the story?
The concept of the Public Sector Unit was visualised by some of our great leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel, to make the country self sufficient in certain key sectors like oil, coal and steel. The initial days were tough, when these new units, still in their infancy had to take on the global giants like Shell and Chevron. But as time passed and people gained experience, the experiment proved to be a success and many of the PSUs started making their presence felt not only in the country but also in global business. One among them is ONGC, which started off as a branch under the geological survey of India and in 50 years established itself as India’s most valuable company with assets in 16 countries. Did this happen out of the blue? Certainly not. It happened because of the consistent efforts by a group of highly qualified and dedicated engineers, geologists and executives. But after the collapse of the permit raj and the opening up of the Indian economy, private players came into the picture and the easiest way for them to hire quality manpower was to poach from the State run PSU s which already had a pool of well qualified and dedicated workforce. And this was quite an easy task, because the salary they offered was at least 5-6 times what a PSU employee was paid.
It is a common misconception that OIL PSU employees are overpaid for the job they do almost everyone seems to support this idea. But what they forget is that the OIL PSU officers are drawn from the cream of the engineering and science graduates. The entry criteria are very strict and the national level written tests needed to qualify can be compared to the civil services examinations. Moreover, officers employed through campus placements are also drawn from only the very best institutes. And where do these officers work? Well, the oil sector is a cruel world where there are hardly any white collared jobs, except perhaps at the top management level. So most of them work in fields located at remote areas or hundreds of Miles in the sea. Life is tough and every drop of oil is produced through the sweat of the engineers, quite literally. And at the end of the day how much are they paid? If we compare the gross annual emoluments of the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of ONGC and that of L&T the results are startling! The ONGC CMD gets around Rs. 13 lakh an annum whereas the top boss of L&T gets a staggering Rs. 5.85 crores. If this is the discrepancy at the top level, we can well guess what the situation is like at the lower or middle management level. On an average a private sector oil employee gets at least 5-6 times more than his PSU counterpart. And that too when many a time he is lesser qualified and poorly trained. No wonder that the attrition levels of the Oil PSU s are at a record high.
Another myth among the people is that PSU employees are casual about their work and unlike their private counterparts have little or no responsibility. It is very wrong to equate an Oil PSU employee with a government employee. A PSU employee may have a secure job, but he is certainly accountable for it and many of his variable remunerations are performance based. Targets are set and achieved in record time. Is this possible without hard work? The professional competence of PSU officers have been amply demonstrated in many instances. A glaring example is MRPL, the refinery set up by the AV Birla group as a joint venture in the mid nineties. The refinery was so badly managed that it seldom came into full production of 7MMTPA besides going into huge losses. Finally, unable to manage it, The AV Birla group sold off its stake to ONGC and in six months the debt of the refinery was reduced from Rs. 5500 crores to Rs. 188 crores and in less than 2 years the company started giving profits. At present, MRPL is not only producing at full capacity and earning huge profits but there are plans to increase its producing capacity. Does this not speak of the competence of Public sector Oil companies?
It is often said that privatising is the only sane option left for the Oil PSUs. But what people fail to see is that many of these PSUs are doing much better than their private counterparts. ONGC, for example, is India’s biggest Integrated Oil and Gas Company. Till recently it had the largest market capitalisation (recently overtaken by Reliance) and is India’s most valuable corporate. For the financial year 2007-08, it had a net profit of Rs. 19872 crores and paid a dividend of Rs. 6844 crores to the Indian government (the highest by any corporate). Not just that, it also shared a subsidy burden of Rs. 38500 crores of the downstream oil companies like IOC and BPCL so that the common man can keep buying petrol and diesel at highly subsidised rates. Private players like Reliance stopped selling petrol from their outlets simply because they were not prepared to bear the subsidy burden and so kept their prices high. The contentious issue of the pay commission report tabled by the Justice M.J.Rao committee has to be carefully looked into. It has to be borne in mind that unlike government employees who get central DA, the Oil PSU employees get a variable industrial DA which is substantially. Lower. Moreover, a government employee gets a pension which amounts to 50% of the last salary drawn, whereas a - PSU employee doesn’t have any such scheme. Besides, most of the engineers working in the fields have to work on shifts of 12 hours and in environments which are termed as hazardous whereas all government employees have a maximum 8 hour work per day in safe and secure work environments. So where does the parity between government and Oil PSUs come from? Finally, it needs to be remembered that the burden of paying the revised salary to the employees is to be borne by the PSUs, without any contribution from the government’s side. So why does it not have the independence to fix the pay of its own employees and have to be governed by the government pay commissions? It has been necessary to put all this on record because of the consistent manner in which oil PSUs have been maligned both by the government and the media over a strike which was necessitated by factors created solely by the government itself.
During the recent strike by the Oil PSU employees, which badly hit the country’s economy and brought life to a grinding halt in many cities, it was natural for the people to censure the striking employees in the toughest words. This is because of the general perception that oil sector PSUs like ONGC, IOC, GAIL etc are already very highly paid and any further demand for better pay is unjustified. The media left no stone unturned in proving that the striking employees are getting much more than their due and the only way to address their grievances is to suspend them or take strict measures. Yes, it is true that a strike which can cripple the Indian economy is not justified, but why did such a strike have to take place at all? Has anyone presented the other side of the story?
The concept of the Public Sector Unit was visualised by some of our great leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel, to make the country self sufficient in certain key sectors like oil, coal and steel. The initial days were tough, when these new units, still in their infancy had to take on the global giants like Shell and Chevron. But as time passed and people gained experience, the experiment proved to be a success and many of the PSUs started making their presence felt not only in the country but also in global business. One among them is ONGC, which started off as a branch under the geological survey of India and in 50 years established itself as India’s most valuable company with assets in 16 countries. Did this happen out of the blue? Certainly not. It happened because of the consistent efforts by a group of highly qualified and dedicated engineers, geologists and executives. But after the collapse of the permit raj and the opening up of the Indian economy, private players came into the picture and the easiest way for them to hire quality manpower was to poach from the State run PSU s which already had a pool of well qualified and dedicated workforce. And this was quite an easy task, because the salary they offered was at least 5-6 times what a PSU employee was paid.
It is a common misconception that OIL PSU employees are overpaid for the job they do almost everyone seems to support this idea. But what they forget is that the OIL PSU officers are drawn from the cream of the engineering and science graduates. The entry criteria are very strict and the national level written tests needed to qualify can be compared to the civil services examinations. Moreover, officers employed through campus placements are also drawn from only the very best institutes. And where do these officers work? Well, the oil sector is a cruel world where there are hardly any white collared jobs, except perhaps at the top management level. So most of them work in fields located at remote areas or hundreds of Miles in the sea. Life is tough and every drop of oil is produced through the sweat of the engineers, quite literally. And at the end of the day how much are they paid? If we compare the gross annual emoluments of the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of ONGC and that of L&T the results are startling! The ONGC CMD gets around Rs. 13 lakh an annum whereas the top boss of L&T gets a staggering Rs. 5.85 crores. If this is the discrepancy at the top level, we can well guess what the situation is like at the lower or middle management level. On an average a private sector oil employee gets at least 5-6 times more than his PSU counterpart. And that too when many a time he is lesser qualified and poorly trained. No wonder that the attrition levels of the Oil PSU s are at a record high.
Another myth among the people is that PSU employees are casual about their work and unlike their private counterparts have little or no responsibility. It is very wrong to equate an Oil PSU employee with a government employee. A PSU employee may have a secure job, but he is certainly accountable for it and many of his variable remunerations are performance based. Targets are set and achieved in record time. Is this possible without hard work? The professional competence of PSU officers have been amply demonstrated in many instances. A glaring example is MRPL, the refinery set up by the AV Birla group as a joint venture in the mid nineties. The refinery was so badly managed that it seldom came into full production of 7MMTPA besides going into huge losses. Finally, unable to manage it, The AV Birla group sold off its stake to ONGC and in six months the debt of the refinery was reduced from Rs. 5500 crores to Rs. 188 crores and in less than 2 years the company started giving profits. At present, MRPL is not only producing at full capacity and earning huge profits but there are plans to increase its producing capacity. Does this not speak of the competence of Public sector Oil companies?
It is often said that privatising is the only sane option left for the Oil PSUs. But what people fail to see is that many of these PSUs are doing much better than their private counterparts. ONGC, for example, is India’s biggest Integrated Oil and Gas Company. Till recently it had the largest market capitalisation (recently overtaken by Reliance) and is India’s most valuable corporate. For the financial year 2007-08, it had a net profit of Rs. 19872 crores and paid a dividend of Rs. 6844 crores to the Indian government (the highest by any corporate). Not just that, it also shared a subsidy burden of Rs. 38500 crores of the downstream oil companies like IOC and BPCL so that the common man can keep buying petrol and diesel at highly subsidised rates. Private players like Reliance stopped selling petrol from their outlets simply because they were not prepared to bear the subsidy burden and so kept their prices high. The contentious issue of the pay commission report tabled by the Justice M.J.Rao committee has to be carefully looked into. It has to be borne in mind that unlike government employees who get central DA, the Oil PSU employees get a variable industrial DA which is substantially. Lower. Moreover, a government employee gets a pension which amounts to 50% of the last salary drawn, whereas a - PSU employee doesn’t have any such scheme. Besides, most of the engineers working in the fields have to work on shifts of 12 hours and in environments which are termed as hazardous whereas all government employees have a maximum 8 hour work per day in safe and secure work environments. So where does the parity between government and Oil PSUs come from? Finally, it needs to be remembered that the burden of paying the revised salary to the employees is to be borne by the PSUs, without any contribution from the government’s side. So why does it not have the independence to fix the pay of its own employees and have to be governed by the government pay commissions? It has been necessary to put all this on record because of the consistent manner in which oil PSUs have been maligned both by the government and the media over a strike which was necessitated by factors created solely by the government itself.
Aftermath of strike- A Poem
I went on a peaceful protest,
Of course, it was a strike,
A fight to get my rights,
In this world’s largest democracy
My voice was viciously suppressed,
By our own autocratic bureaucracy
Oilmen became bad men,
Salary was unveiled in public domain
Everyone thinks I am obsessed with greed
For pay hike, there is no need
I don’t have battery of lawyers
To sternly deal with those liars,
Who have ruined my peaceful life,
In my family, I am facing strife
What’s my salary is a big conundrum,
In my hand I have a memorandum
I accept it with grace,
With a smiling face,
Hoping I will win the race.
Of course, it was a strike,
A fight to get my rights,
In this world’s largest democracy
My voice was viciously suppressed,
By our own autocratic bureaucracy
Oilmen became bad men,
Salary was unveiled in public domain
Everyone thinks I am obsessed with greed
For pay hike, there is no need
I don’t have battery of lawyers
To sternly deal with those liars,
Who have ruined my peaceful life,
In my family, I am facing strife
What’s my salary is a big conundrum,
In my hand I have a memorandum
I accept it with grace,
With a smiling face,
Hoping I will win the race.
---A peaceful striker
Holy Modern Indian Cow !(Media)
Holy Modern Indian Cow ! is on air!
Vapours comes out from her holy shit !
''Breaking News!''
Isn't it farting GAS?
Those 'calves' look too cute !
With the mike and Cam on street interviews
Holy mother cow gives them the milk.
SHIT and milk are holier then holy!
They can mortgage their self esteem!!
OIL MAN ! Your oil is not honey
See the mockery of democracy!!
Indian car runs on farting gas
And not your Oil & Gas unholy!!
This baby cows get matured soon
And are sold to the political bulls !
Reason why,Baby cow screamed in pain
''desdrohi'' !!''desdhrohi'' !! at ZEE news
We knew they were not screaming at us
pleasing ones who were raping them!
Sure we were not there ,as the STAR CHANNEL said!
We would not have allowed them to rape.
Cow comes and cow goes
BULLSHIT remains for ever!
Lets Move on ! India stops breathing without us
We know that we cant be ''desdrohi''
Oil flowed and nation growed
We make tomorrow brighter for those!
For them who cheat the nation
With cheap fuel for looting votesToday is made darker for those who spoke for us.
We have not sold this nation to Ambanis!
we are not the fund collectors of ruling party
We are not posted in secretariat in 'Hera feri''
We are selected on our merit
The nation is mislead by these holy cows
bulls and the basterds!!
Father of the nation ! dont do Gandhigiri
Please don't ask them the name of their father
They will malign you saying you were their real father!
This Indian political bullock cart
Cows and baby cows
Invisible Hand ,are
Breaking Jawaharlal's dream
Are out to sell the ' HOLY temples''
The temples of india, We built
TEACH THIS HAND A LESSON
WE OIL MAN HAVE WITH US
A BRASS HAMMER !
Make sure they don't win the NEXT election!
== ''spark''
AN OILMAN WHO IS PUT ON FIRE/
Vapours comes out from her holy shit !
''Breaking News!''
Isn't it farting GAS?
Those 'calves' look too cute !
With the mike and Cam on street interviews
Holy mother cow gives them the milk.
SHIT and milk are holier then holy!
They can mortgage their self esteem!!
OIL MAN ! Your oil is not honey
See the mockery of democracy!!
Indian car runs on farting gas
And not your Oil & Gas unholy!!
This baby cows get matured soon
And are sold to the political bulls !
Reason why,Baby cow screamed in pain
''desdrohi'' !!''desdhrohi'' !! at ZEE news
We knew they were not screaming at us
pleasing ones who were raping them!
Sure we were not there ,as the STAR CHANNEL said!
We would not have allowed them to rape.
Cow comes and cow goes
BULLSHIT remains for ever!
Lets Move on ! India stops breathing without us
We know that we cant be ''desdrohi''
Oil flowed and nation growed
We make tomorrow brighter for those!
For them who cheat the nation
With cheap fuel for looting votesToday is made darker for those who spoke for us.
We have not sold this nation to Ambanis!
we are not the fund collectors of ruling party
We are not posted in secretariat in 'Hera feri''
We are selected on our merit
The nation is mislead by these holy cows
bulls and the basterds!!
Father of the nation ! dont do Gandhigiri
Please don't ask them the name of their father
They will malign you saying you were their real father!
This Indian political bullock cart
Cows and baby cows
Invisible Hand ,are
Breaking Jawaharlal's dream
Are out to sell the ' HOLY temples''
The temples of india, We built
TEACH THIS HAND A LESSON
WE OIL MAN HAVE WITH US
A BRASS HAMMER !
Make sure they don't win the NEXT election!
== ''spark''
AN OILMAN WHO IS PUT ON FIRE/
Massive Repressive Acts Stll Continue
THIS IS FOR INFO OF ONE AND ALL THAT ONGC HAS CLOSED THE FEEDBACK FACILITY AT ONGCREPORTS.NET AND ALSO CLOSED THE FACILITY TO GIVE ANY COMMENT ON ANY ITEM ON ONGCREPORTS.NET.
THIS FACILITY WERE STARTED BY SH SUBIR RAHA, EX- CHAIRMAN ONGC
PL. PUBLISH THIS ON UR BLOG AND ALSO ASK MEDIA R THEY GOING TO OPPOSE THIS CENSORSHIP? -AN ONGCIAN WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.
THIS FACILITY WERE STARTED BY SH SUBIR RAHA, EX- CHAIRMAN ONGC
PL. PUBLISH THIS ON UR BLOG AND ALSO ASK MEDIA R THEY GOING TO OPPOSE THIS CENSORSHIP? -AN ONGCIAN WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
TRAITOR, TRAITOR, EVERYWHERE, NOR ANY PATRIOT TO SEE
MAHENDRA GAUR
B.E., P.G.D.M, LL.B.
B-90, Saraswati Marg,
Bajaj Nagar, Jaipur-302015
Fax 0141-2705901
Phone: 09829059018
January 18, 2009
Shri Raghav Sharan Pandey
Secretary to the Government of India
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas,
Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi –110001
Tel: 011-23383501, 23383562
Fax:011-23383100,23070723
sec.png@nic.in
SUB: STRIKE BY THE OFFICERS OF OIL PSU-YOUR CALLING THEM TRAITORS
Dear Sir,
1. You seemed to epitomise the patriotic fervour when you echoed the sentiments of the Nation by calling the striking oilmen as traitors. It was possibly for the first time someone showed the courage to call ‘a spade a spade’. What I did not like is your taking shelter under fudged salary figures to justify your remarks. However, if you add the cost of perks and hidden benefits enjoyed by OIL PSU officers then salary figures might inch towards the figures quoted by you and ZEE TV. At times it appeared that you and ZEE TV were acting in tandem.
2. I am coming across hundreds of mails from agitated officers of oil companies who feel hurt because of your calling them traitors. But in a way they deserved it.
3. I wish you show similar courage in calling ‘a spade a spade’ when it comes to people like Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mr. Mulayam Singh, Ms. Mayawati, Mr. Sharad Pawar, Mr. Murli Deora etc. You know the salaries of a few of them run into hundreds of Crores, if you add those hidden incomes on the same formulae. I wonder whether we should call them traitors when they boycott (strike work) Parliament. I think we should. But I have no guts. You have. So call them traitors when they strike work next. Tell ZEE TV also to do the same. You two can work beautifully in tandem.
4. I have read in some news magazines that IAS officers get up to 10 Crores in dowry. Though we have Anti-Dowry laws but these are not applicable to the IAS fraternity. Some people (may be mad caps) have re-christened IAS as Indian Avtar Service. Likewise IAS learn less of Administration in .…. Mussoorie but learn more about the tricks of moneymaking. I am not speaking of your times, but the modern era.
5. I am from Rajasthan. Once upon a time Barmer and Jaisalmer districts were dreaded postings as District Collector. Not these days. I understand a District Collector makes tens of crores from the smugglers in these two districts. Now these are considered prized postings. You know making hay while the sun shines. But I tell you these oil company officers may call such District Magistrates as Traitors. But you need not worry the Media is not going to give credence to their views.
6. This reminds me of one of your own departments ‘Anti-Adulteration Cell’. All the top bosses viz. from Director General to Regional Directors came from IAS. One of them Mr. Sandeep Garg was caught with Rs.3.0 Crores. CBI filed a DA case against him. I tell you this CBI also acts like a traitor. The whole department had to be scraped. While Mr. Garg was actually serving the nation, these traitors (oilmen) lost one of them by the name Mr. Manjunath fighting against Adulteration Mafia. What a fool Manjunath proved to be. If he had accepted bribes like Mr. Sandeep Garg, he could have kept the money as well as the job. What do you think; we should call these oilmen, traitors or fools. May be both.
7. In 1994, in Kota Kerosene Tragedy, about 30-35 people died. One Mr. Devi Dayal, I think from Indian Avtar Service came to liase with the State Government. Being a busy man Mr. Devi Dayal was on dawn-to-dusk visit to Jaipur. His wife duly accompanied him on such a serious and short trip. Two rooms were booked in Hotel Ram Bagh Palace. You know circuit house are below standard. And we have these traitors always eager to pay for National Heroes form IAS. I was posted at Jaipur then. One Mr. V. V. Jain from Delhi escorted Mr. Dayal. Mr. Jain was a senior traitor then but came separately in a pilot car. A few small traitors were running helter-skelter on NH 8 for the whole day to look after small needs of the AVTAR like ….you know to make his journey smooth and SULABH. The hotel, travel, and snacks bill ran in excess of tens of thousand for a few hours stay. Mr. Dayal could not wait for Mr. Bhairo Singh Shekhawat, the then CM who was to return from Kota in the evening and Mr. Dayal left for Delhi avoiding Bhairo Baba, but meeting a few patriots like him. May be in the estimation of Mr. Dayal Bhairo Baba could also be a traitor. But the oil company fellows certainly proved themselves to be fools by paying thousands of rupees on Mr. Dayal who did not deserve a penny.
8. Likewise one of your lady officers went to Shirdi on a pilgrimage. These fools-cum-traitors put her in a five star hotel gave taxi an escort traitor to take her to Shirdi and back. These fools thought that she was on pilgrimage, but actually she was on pricing mission. Your officers enjoy the luxuries provided by these fools-cum-traitors. If I write about all, it would be an endless saga.
9. You know this ZEE TV forgot about Masur Dal Scam and Bofors, and Coffin gate and one Late ….Mr. S….K…Bha....again from Indian Avtar Service. Such a great national hero’s name was unnecessarily dragged with the then PM etc. This reminds me of the story … but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. (Pdf file enclosed) Kindly search your own heart, are you or your brother officers, also traitors? Are you not helping your political masters, who are/could be traitors? The fact remains that there are traitors on both sides. TRAITOR, TRAITOR, EVERYWHERE, NOR ANY PATRIOT TO SEE. Question is who is bigger traitor. You proved to be a smart traitor and oilmen turned out to be fools-cum-traitors.
10. If the oilmen are really hurt, I call upon them to stop all kinds of appeasements to Indian Avtar Service, and the Parliamentary Committees. Let all adulteration and black marketing stop. After all it is the money from oil industry that fuels the Patriots to call oilmen as traitors. Mr. Pandey you too were equally responsible for the strike as every single officer from oil industry. When upset, it is easier to pick up a stone, then to lay one down. The One who had the right to cast a stone in judgment refused and offered Himself up on a cross instead. Mr. Pandey, you should have opted for the cross rather than throwing stones. It now calls for reinstatement of dismissed officers gracefully, settlement of their grievances, removing wage anomalies and public apology for unnecessarily calling them traitors. My sincere apologies for being harsh on the entire IAS fraternity, many of whom are honest to the core and personal friends too.
With regards,
Mahendra Gaur
Monday, January 19, 2009
Using NLP for Achieving Results
Mr Sridharan is a one man Army who exhibits top leadership qualities in our midst by creating world class infrastructure in India like Konkan Rail, Delhi Metro etc. Some of his practices are very simple and very effective. I received this article in an email so I do not think I need to get his permission to publish this here. This is for those who want to achieve desired goals inspite of the bureaucratic system around. Hope you enjoy as well as try to practise this in all spheres including Trade Unionism.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I visualize things in my mind before I have to do them. It's like having a mental workshop.
- Jack Youngblood
Only human beings have the skill and talent to visualize. We have the ability to 'see' our future even before it arrives. It is said that we do everything twice, once in our mind and then in our real life. Next time when you watch tennis player or a cricketer in action, notice what they are doing. They will rehearse their best shot even before the ball arrives. This is mental rehearsal.
In Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), there is a process called T.O.T.E. This acronym represents the words Test, Operate, Test and Exit. This is very useful tool for planning our strategy for a predetermined outcome.
The first stage is Test. In this stage, we mentally visualize our strategy or action plan to check if we will get the desired outcome with the activities we have planned.
If we are mentally convinced that it will, then we go to the next stage of Operate in which we execute the action plan in real life.
Once we have done this, we go to the third stage of Test in which we check if we have reached the outcome we had in mind.
If the answer is yes, then we Exit. If we did not get the result, then we go back to the first stage of testing an alternative strategy or action plan.
NLP talks about a fixed outcome and a flexible strategy. Unless and until we rehearse our plan of action in our mind, we will not be able to realize the same. This is an amazing talent and you will have to put into practice to realize how powerful is the tool.
------N C Sridharan
Let Him without SIN cast the First Stone
Somebody has called us Traitors. The stone has been cast at us. A relevant article. More to follow.
Adulteress
Adulteress
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Change - It Cannot happen isolatedly
Change my dear friends cannot happen in an isolated manner. We cannot expect the Media to listen to us or the Babus to be sympathetic to us or the 'Aam Admi' to worry about whether we have got our hikes. We live in a society with its ample problems. Every aspect of our Indian Society has problems of its own. If we continue to think that we can close our eyes to what is happenning around us and live, let alone get our rightful demands met, then my dear friends we are living in a fool's paradise. All that you are saying is wrong with the Oil Sector- be it from a nexus between Pvt Players and Govt, be it disinterested Elected Members of India, be it draconian laws that prevent you from your right to strike when your reasonable demands are not being listened to, it all boils down to the one single fact- we do not have the right people at the right places! . Would you not like to change this all?? I ask this specially of the youngsters who are here, the Youth out there who are the majority today- massive 70% below 35 yrs age, you should know your power. So please think!
So when there are other groups out there fighting in each of their areas to make these things right, let us all Join Hands and build a common group of Indisns who care-- OilMen; too, who care, about everything. After all that happens to us is a manifestation of all the wrongs against us. I give one small example to you. Supposing the Country was rich and the so called "Aam janta" was not so Aam do you think they would have grudged you your salary hikes today? It is JUST because they are burdened with so much day to day problems that one more heaped upon them by our strike caused such a hue and cry.
I therefore post a mail from one gentleman who is fighting for a campaign to reform the JUDICIARY. Let us start our journey of connecting with the world first by outting our names to the online petition of his group. Once you join hands with others then only you can expect others to join you. Rather then asking them to listen first listen to theirs.
Quote:-
From: Ravindran Major
To: Shantanu Das
Sent: Wednesday, 14 January, 2009 6:21:48 AM
Subject:
Dear Mr Das
I have nothing against you or your friends. Whatever comments you had made had been responded to and there ends the matter. This is a country where even MPs have asked in Parliament what the armed forces do in peace time. Ignorance can't always be bliss.
Even before going through your website I can see that it pertains to the oil sector only. I am NO expert in this field. But I am sure that it doesn't need any expertise to smell injustice whenever and wherever there is one. I have no doubts that in the oil sector too there will be plenty of cases of exploitation of the many by a handful.
In fact if you look at the national scenario nobody with common sense can miss the fact that only ONE family had got freedom on 15 Aug 1947. It continues to be so even today. Some people who have the money and can manipulate the system also have a certain degree of freedom compared to the masses. For the masses themselves nothing has changed.
There is no point wasting our efforts in localised issues. We need big changes. We need the people whom, technicaly at least, we have put in offices of authority to manage the comon resources for the common good and reducing disparities, to be accountable to us. In this matter the courts are the worst. Even a bill- the judges inquiry bill, a shadow of the actual requirement- is not getting cleared because we have filled our law making bodies with criminals who are at the mercy of the judges and would dare not support any legislation to bring transparency in the affairs of the courts. The police and the judiciary are two set ups we have created for citizens to approach for getting justice. But as per Transparency International surveys the police is the most corrupt and the judiciary the second most corrupt institution in our country! So where do we go?
To my mind atleast there seems to be no legally effective course of action open to us. Anyhow, I am persisiting on a campaign for reforming the judiciary first by having national judicial commission to try and punish judges as per laws applicable to ordinary citizens. An online petition, addressed to the President and PM of India, is available at
http://www.petitiononline.com/jrandac1/petition.html
I request you to support it and also motivate your friends to support it.
Regards and best wishes
ravi
Endquote
Please all go to the link and sign the petition like responsible, thinking Citizens of India remembering that we are Indisns first and Oilmen later.
Also somebody had requested me to start an online petition for reinstatement of sacked employees. Let me see if we too can do something like this.
So when there are other groups out there fighting in each of their areas to make these things right, let us all Join Hands and build a common group of Indisns who care-- OilMen; too, who care, about everything. After all that happens to us is a manifestation of all the wrongs against us. I give one small example to you. Supposing the Country was rich and the so called "Aam janta" was not so Aam do you think they would have grudged you your salary hikes today? It is JUST because they are burdened with so much day to day problems that one more heaped upon them by our strike caused such a hue and cry.
I therefore post a mail from one gentleman who is fighting for a campaign to reform the JUDICIARY. Let us start our journey of connecting with the world first by outting our names to the online petition of his group. Once you join hands with others then only you can expect others to join you. Rather then asking them to listen first listen to theirs.
Quote:-
From: Ravindran Major
To: Shantanu Das
Sent: Wednesday, 14 January, 2009 6:21:48 AM
Subject:
Dear Mr Das
I have nothing against you or your friends. Whatever comments you had made had been responded to and there ends the matter. This is a country where even MPs have asked in Parliament what the armed forces do in peace time. Ignorance can't always be bliss.
Even before going through your website I can see that it pertains to the oil sector only. I am NO expert in this field. But I am sure that it doesn't need any expertise to smell injustice whenever and wherever there is one. I have no doubts that in the oil sector too there will be plenty of cases of exploitation of the many by a handful.
In fact if you look at the national scenario nobody with common sense can miss the fact that only ONE family had got freedom on 15 Aug 1947. It continues to be so even today. Some people who have the money and can manipulate the system also have a certain degree of freedom compared to the masses. For the masses themselves nothing has changed.
There is no point wasting our efforts in localised issues. We need big changes. We need the people whom, technicaly at least, we have put in offices of authority to manage the comon resources for the common good and reducing disparities, to be accountable to us. In this matter the courts are the worst. Even a bill- the judges inquiry bill, a shadow of the actual requirement- is not getting cleared because we have filled our law making bodies with criminals who are at the mercy of the judges and would dare not support any legislation to bring transparency in the affairs of the courts. The police and the judiciary are two set ups we have created for citizens to approach for getting justice. But as per Transparency International surveys the police is the most corrupt and the judiciary the second most corrupt institution in our country! So where do we go?
To my mind atleast there seems to be no legally effective course of action open to us. Anyhow, I am persisiting on a campaign for reforming the judiciary first by having national judicial commission to try and punish judges as per laws applicable to ordinary citizens. An online petition, addressed to the President and PM of India, is available at
http://www.petitiononline.com/jrandac1/petition.html
I request you to support it and also motivate your friends to support it.
Regards and best wishes
ravi
Endquote
Please all go to the link and sign the petition like responsible, thinking Citizens of India remembering that we are Indisns first and Oilmen later.
Also somebody had requested me to start an online petition for reinstatement of sacked employees. Let me see if we too can do something like this.
Expenditure on Govt Officials by Oil Sector-2
Ixpress 12-01-09
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Austerity? Rs 65,000 a month on taxi rental, hotel bills, airline tickets... ask ONGC
Amitav Ranjan
Posted online: Jan 12, 2009 at 0102 hrs
New Delhi : Former ONGC chairman Subir Raha had once complained that the Petroleum Ministry was treating the public sector undertaking as its “fiefdom”. He was shown the door after a five-year term even though he had two more years to go before superannuation.
Three years later, documents show that many bureaucrats in the ministry are using the country’s most-profitable PSU for benefits like chauffeur-driven cars, payment of mobile bills, air fare and hotel stay, collectively running into lakhs of rupees.
Documents show that the state-run oil and gas exploration firm had provided vehicles “for the duties of the officers of the ministry on regular basis” paying monthly rents between
Rs 35,000 and Rs 65,000 on each car. Some of these taxis have been deployed for more than a year and were still continuing, ONGC records show.
What is disquieting is that the bureaucrats were utilising these
facilities from ONGC while collecting Rs 1,800 or more as transport allowances in their paycheck even when the Department of Expenditure had clearly defined that “the
allowance will not be admissible to those employees who have been provided with the facility of government transport”.
As for mobile phones, almost all directors, joint secretaries and the ministry’s only additional secretary had been provided a connection, with ONGC having paid Rs 2.30 lakh as usage bills until September 2008, while the officials were collecting Rs 1,500 plus per month as reimbursement on mobile/residential phone.
The navratna company also footed air tickets, five-star hotel accommodation and cars at Chennai, Mumbai and Ahmedabad for the ministry staff as well as their relatives.
While one director ran up a bill of Rs 6.3 lakh for 16 nights stay at different times in hotels of Mumbai and Chennai, a former Petroleum Secretary chalked up more than Rs 2 lakh for five nights in different hotels of Mumbai and Chennai.
The ONGC also shelled out Rs 1.35 lakh on airline tickets for
officials in the Mumbai-Delhi sector and Rs 1.99 lakh in taxi bills for ministers and officials travelling in and around Gujarat.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story_print.php?storyid=409610
18/01/2009
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Page 1 of 1
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Austerity? Rs 65,000 a month on taxi rental, hotel bills, airline tickets... ask ONGC
Amitav Ranjan
Posted online: Jan 12, 2009 at 0102 hrs
New Delhi : Former ONGC chairman Subir Raha had once complained that the Petroleum Ministry was treating the public sector undertaking as its “fiefdom”. He was shown the door after a five-year term even though he had two more years to go before superannuation.
Three years later, documents show that many bureaucrats in the ministry are using the country’s most-profitable PSU for benefits like chauffeur-driven cars, payment of mobile bills, air fare and hotel stay, collectively running into lakhs of rupees.
Documents show that the state-run oil and gas exploration firm had provided vehicles “for the duties of the officers of the ministry on regular basis” paying monthly rents between
Rs 35,000 and Rs 65,000 on each car. Some of these taxis have been deployed for more than a year and were still continuing, ONGC records show.
What is disquieting is that the bureaucrats were utilising these
facilities from ONGC while collecting Rs 1,800 or more as transport allowances in their paycheck even when the Department of Expenditure had clearly defined that “the
allowance will not be admissible to those employees who have been provided with the facility of government transport”.
As for mobile phones, almost all directors, joint secretaries and the ministry’s only additional secretary had been provided a connection, with ONGC having paid Rs 2.30 lakh as usage bills until September 2008, while the officials were collecting Rs 1,500 plus per month as reimbursement on mobile/residential phone.
The navratna company also footed air tickets, five-star hotel accommodation and cars at Chennai, Mumbai and Ahmedabad for the ministry staff as well as their relatives.
While one director ran up a bill of Rs 6.3 lakh for 16 nights stay at different times in hotels of Mumbai and Chennai, a former Petroleum Secretary chalked up more than Rs 2 lakh for five nights in different hotels of Mumbai and Chennai.
The ONGC also shelled out Rs 1.35 lakh on airline tickets for
officials in the Mumbai-Delhi sector and Rs 1.99 lakh in taxi bills for ministers and officials travelling in and around Gujarat.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story_print.php?storyid=409610
18/01/2009
IAS - Open the Clubhouse to everyone Outside
An article TITLED "OPEN THE CLUBHOUSE TO EVERYONE" in The NEW INDIAN Express Friday May 9, 2008, Bangalore says that IAS people comprising of just 4200 serving officials stand to gain an edge over non-IAS officers in the Govt and how IAS subjugates all other cadres.
Write Up on IAS Lobby
Write Up on IAS Lobby
Aam Admi -- Are we not too- I ask the Media!!
A billion in UK, a Billion is a Million million meaning 12 zeros after 1. But Americans known to shorten english words have also shortened this number. For them it is Thousand Million or 9 zeros after 1. Now I am not sure which we Indian Scientists and Economists use and this becomes all the more confusing when we insert our own unit The Crore, which is 10 million or 7 zeros after 1. So let us just keep to the full number.
As per the last Census (2004-- if anybody has later one pls tell me) says Indian Population total was 1,065,070,607 or 106 crores. In 2004, an estimated 250 million (300 in 2006) people are below the poverty line (BPL) and approximately 75 per cent of them were in the rural areas. Allow for increase till date. This makes it 25% of the total population.
[The BPL is defined as an earning of Rs. 300/- per month. Even here the Govt tried to play recently by changing the definition.. i.e. reducing the amount so that no. of people BPL get reduced! IMAGINE!!)
I do not think they are the "Aam Admi" the media is referring too. Because in any case these poor people are "dying" every day strike or no strike, terrorist attack or no terrist attack, Congress or BJP or Mayavati or Amar Singh, INDO-US ties or Indo-Pak war, China occupying parts of Arunachal Pradesh or Karunanidhi asking PM Monmohan Singh to intervene in Sri Lanka on behalf of the Tamilians.. These people are in any case never looked after and are only worried every day when the sun is yet to rise, that they have to wake up before sunrise and the women folk will trudge miles to get pails of drinking water and men will go to the fields to till to farm and have only one worry in their daily life. whether they will get their two rotis. Certainly these are not Aam Admis!!!! Are they?
Then take out the Utterly Dirty Rich people. the Sharukhs, the Amitabhs, The Sanjay Dutts, the Mayavatis, the Mallyas, the Amabanis, whose lives are in anyway never affected come flood or Tsunami or Stikes or Terrorists (till recently). If the trucks are not running and their kitchens go dry (which they do not, because they have kitchens the size of halls of our own houses) they can just go to London and have breakfast, then do a bit of sight seeing and just drop by at Paris to have dinner.. and come back the next day.. No no I am sure Media do not call them the AAM ADMI.. If they do then their TRPs will drop.
Then who are the AAM Admis? The Ministers? noo.how can they be.. they are having power, they have money, they have the goondas, they have the police, they have the gullible public also with them to vote them every time back to power.. So when they have all this how can their lives be affected? Nahh. they too are not Aam Admis!!
Then the Babus? Haha! Have you ever seen how they flaunt their red lights and we have to give them way in traffic jams? Have you ever entered one of those hallowed IAS Officers' Messes built on Taxpayers' money during a Cricket Match? pls do .. you will find a huge Plasma TV Screen in the restaurant or whatever it is called and the babus relaxing away on a working day with subsidised Pina Coladas..I heard even the IPS officers are not allwed membeership to these clubs and they have to maintain separate ones. Ministers may come and go but the Babus remain forever.. after all they need time to retire.. . They are the ones who run the show in this Huge Country.. so how can they be AAM Admi? Can king be a subject too?
Friends what remains then? Guess? Why do you think all the western business groups are coming to India? To sell their products and services. But why? Because we have a huge middle class. Our Middle Class is so large in numbers that we are an attractive proposition for those who are in dried out markets out in the Western World. Here in India we have a large market because of the huge Middle class segment. I will talk on what Middle Class means as per the Economists and Statisticians at a different post (will be linked here too). But for my argument wrt "Who is Aam Admi" I say the middle class are the Aam Admis.. those who are affected by everything that happens around us, from strikes to terrorist attacks, from VIP Traffic through the Delhi Roads making them stop their cars and bikes wasting their valuable time, to paying high taxes through their noses, from dying in the hands of Ajmals of this world at a Mumbai Railway Station to dying in heat strokes in the Hot Delhi roads, from waiting in queues in crowded Hospitals (Govt and Private alike) to jostling among themselves on roads, buses, queues, airport terminals, railway platforms, markets, malls.
This is the Middle Class. The Middle class who they need to make the rich richer by buying their products and watching them dance (in Films) to voting them to Power to just being there. These are the MIDDLE class. These are the subjects of the Rulers. If the Middle Class was not there then who will the Rulers rule? THESE are the AAM ADMIs that the Media was portraying..
But in their eagerness to get TRP ratings, when they were shrieking their voices out they forgot that we 55,000 too make up a part of the same Middle Class-the same "Aam Admi"- because we too face the same problems day in day out all over India. They forgot that the fight is not between Oil Sector Officers and the Aam Admi but between Aam Admis and the Rulers!!
Media talked of "Aam Admi" Suffering due to Our Oil Sector Srike. But little did they realise that we are "Aam Admi" too. And we too have suffered for 12 years of crying at the wooden chunks, who sit in the Parliament and the Secretariats. Wooden because there was no response at all. Media forgot that after we suffered for 12 years, they have now inflicted further pain on our familes too by their Hitlerian Style of handling the Situation. What harm would it have made if Respected Prime Minsiter had just met the leaders for 10 mts? I am sure that OSOA would have called off the Strike.. I know they were breaking down.. things would have settled down and we would have gone back waiting for the GOM report and another Strike would not have come.
But what is the lesson that needed to be taught to us? I will talk on this aspect later. You cannot break the morale of 55,000 officers and more (considering all PSUs) like this and expect Efficiency, Quality, Service at the same time. This will be discussed in subsequent posts.
Here I will now Thank TNN, for showing India that we too are the Aam Admis and we too are suffering and not just we but our families.
So I thank Sri Sanjay Dutta of Times News Nework (TNN)for bringing out the human angle of our struggle too in the following news item of his on 14th January 2009 in Times of India, Delhi Edition as below and also for giving correct facts of oil sector salaries. When you have sent so many mails asking media to apologise I suggest you all at least send Thank you mails to him (and also Lok Sabha TV) for their balanced reporting Styles.
Shantanu Das
Oil Sector Families Suffer- TOI 14th Jan 2009
As per the last Census (2004-- if anybody has later one pls tell me) says Indian Population total was 1,065,070,607 or 106 crores. In 2004, an estimated 250 million (300 in 2006) people are below the poverty line (BPL) and approximately 75 per cent of them were in the rural areas. Allow for increase till date. This makes it 25% of the total population.
[The BPL is defined as an earning of Rs. 300/- per month. Even here the Govt tried to play recently by changing the definition.. i.e. reducing the amount so that no. of people BPL get reduced! IMAGINE!!)
I do not think they are the "Aam Admi" the media is referring too. Because in any case these poor people are "dying" every day strike or no strike, terrorist attack or no terrist attack, Congress or BJP or Mayavati or Amar Singh, INDO-US ties or Indo-Pak war, China occupying parts of Arunachal Pradesh or Karunanidhi asking PM Monmohan Singh to intervene in Sri Lanka on behalf of the Tamilians.. These people are in any case never looked after and are only worried every day when the sun is yet to rise, that they have to wake up before sunrise and the women folk will trudge miles to get pails of drinking water and men will go to the fields to till to farm and have only one worry in their daily life. whether they will get their two rotis. Certainly these are not Aam Admis!!!! Are they?
Then take out the Utterly Dirty Rich people. the Sharukhs, the Amitabhs, The Sanjay Dutts, the Mayavatis, the Mallyas, the Amabanis, whose lives are in anyway never affected come flood or Tsunami or Stikes or Terrorists (till recently). If the trucks are not running and their kitchens go dry (which they do not, because they have kitchens the size of halls of our own houses) they can just go to London and have breakfast, then do a bit of sight seeing and just drop by at Paris to have dinner.. and come back the next day.. No no I am sure Media do not call them the AAM ADMI.. If they do then their TRPs will drop.
Then who are the AAM Admis? The Ministers? noo.how can they be.. they are having power, they have money, they have the goondas, they have the police, they have the gullible public also with them to vote them every time back to power.. So when they have all this how can their lives be affected? Nahh. they too are not Aam Admis!!
Then the Babus? Haha! Have you ever seen how they flaunt their red lights and we have to give them way in traffic jams? Have you ever entered one of those hallowed IAS Officers' Messes built on Taxpayers' money during a Cricket Match? pls do .. you will find a huge Plasma TV Screen in the restaurant or whatever it is called and the babus relaxing away on a working day with subsidised Pina Coladas..I heard even the IPS officers are not allwed membeership to these clubs and they have to maintain separate ones. Ministers may come and go but the Babus remain forever.. after all they need time to retire.. . They are the ones who run the show in this Huge Country.. so how can they be AAM Admi? Can king be a subject too?
Friends what remains then? Guess? Why do you think all the western business groups are coming to India? To sell their products and services. But why? Because we have a huge middle class. Our Middle Class is so large in numbers that we are an attractive proposition for those who are in dried out markets out in the Western World. Here in India we have a large market because of the huge Middle class segment. I will talk on what Middle Class means as per the Economists and Statisticians at a different post (will be linked here too). But for my argument wrt "Who is Aam Admi" I say the middle class are the Aam Admis.. those who are affected by everything that happens around us, from strikes to terrorist attacks, from VIP Traffic through the Delhi Roads making them stop their cars and bikes wasting their valuable time, to paying high taxes through their noses, from dying in the hands of Ajmals of this world at a Mumbai Railway Station to dying in heat strokes in the Hot Delhi roads, from waiting in queues in crowded Hospitals (Govt and Private alike) to jostling among themselves on roads, buses, queues, airport terminals, railway platforms, markets, malls.
This is the Middle Class. The Middle class who they need to make the rich richer by buying their products and watching them dance (in Films) to voting them to Power to just being there. These are the MIDDLE class. These are the subjects of the Rulers. If the Middle Class was not there then who will the Rulers rule? THESE are the AAM ADMIs that the Media was portraying..
But in their eagerness to get TRP ratings, when they were shrieking their voices out they forgot that we 55,000 too make up a part of the same Middle Class-the same "Aam Admi"- because we too face the same problems day in day out all over India. They forgot that the fight is not between Oil Sector Officers and the Aam Admi but between Aam Admis and the Rulers!!
Media talked of "Aam Admi" Suffering due to Our Oil Sector Srike. But little did they realise that we are "Aam Admi" too. And we too have suffered for 12 years of crying at the wooden chunks, who sit in the Parliament and the Secretariats. Wooden because there was no response at all. Media forgot that after we suffered for 12 years, they have now inflicted further pain on our familes too by their Hitlerian Style of handling the Situation. What harm would it have made if Respected Prime Minsiter had just met the leaders for 10 mts? I am sure that OSOA would have called off the Strike.. I know they were breaking down.. things would have settled down and we would have gone back waiting for the GOM report and another Strike would not have come.
But what is the lesson that needed to be taught to us? I will talk on this aspect later. You cannot break the morale of 55,000 officers and more (considering all PSUs) like this and expect Efficiency, Quality, Service at the same time. This will be discussed in subsequent posts.
Here I will now Thank TNN, for showing India that we too are the Aam Admis and we too are suffering and not just we but our families.
So I thank Sri Sanjay Dutta of Times News Nework (TNN)for bringing out the human angle of our struggle too in the following news item of his on 14th January 2009 in Times of India, Delhi Edition as below and also for giving correct facts of oil sector salaries. When you have sent so many mails asking media to apologise I suggest you all at least send Thank you mails to him (and also Lok Sabha TV) for their balanced reporting Styles.
Shantanu Das
Oil Sector Families Suffer- TOI 14th Jan 2009
The Nexus of Corruption: Reliance and Government
There is a gnawing feeling in the minds of every OIL Men of the Public Sector why they kept on deferring the issue for two years and then pushed us into a strike and THEN by refusing to budge an inch and accept minimum legitimate demands their real intention was to show Oil PSUs in a bad light so as to pave the way to hand over the assets of the country to one power Private group. And we all know where power flows from ? The gun barrel or money?
See this link which seems to be talking of some nexus much earlier. We are of course not experts at commenting on national issues and neither should we be drawn into them. But friends let us read what some experts are already saying.
http://desicritics.org/2008/09/09/005819.php
Some excerpts from the website :-
Quote
The Nexus of Corruption: Reliance and Government
September 09, 2008C R Sridhar
A government, for protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and decay.’ - Amos Bronson Alcott, American Educator.
One of the common myths circulated in Indian mainstream media is about the inherent dynamism of the Private sector, which offers a refreshing contrast to the venal, corrupt and mendacious class of politicians and government officials. The Captains of Industries are sympathetically portrayed as dynamic, hard working and enterprising people who are thwarted by soul stifling regulation imposed by the Government. Unlike the moribund Public Sector, say the business friendly media, the Private Sector is efficient and creates a big pie in the economy. But unfortunately, like all myths, it has elements of truth but deceives us by not presenting the whole picture.
.................
One of the most remarkable books to emerge in the Indian publishing scene in recent times is Reliance- The Real Natwar written by Arun K. Agrawal.
.......
The spotlight of the book is on the alleged involvement of Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) in the Iraq oil-for-food scam. As the author says in his book,
‘This book has its origin, in the compulsion, born of exasperation, experienced by the author to record the failure- or, more accurately, the self-serving refusal – of the Indian political and administrative system to investigate the award of extremely lucrative oil contracts under the United Nations- administered Oil- for-Food programme in Iraq to RPL in transactions manifestly driven by kickbacks/ bribery and bipartisan political patronage.’
...................... Tip of the iceberg: The Oil for Food scam was not an isolated instance of Reliance Petroleum Limited walking away from corruption unscathed. There are also other scandals involving the Reliance Group. One of which was the deal involving Panna-Mukta- oil fields - given to Reliance during the Congress government by Captain Satish Sharma who was the Minister of oil and Natural Gas and a close friend of Rajiv Gandhi.
............... A dangerous collusion:
When the interests of Big business coincide with the personal interests of politicians and bureaucrats of the government, then it can be safely assumed that public good or national interest would be in an irreversible terminal decline. As Timothy P. Carney in his book The Big Rip-off: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money says,
‘Today's largest corporations have mastered the art of working with government officials at every level to stifle market competition. They reap billions through a complex web of higher taxes, stricter regulations, and shameless government handouts.’
Endquote
Need we say more? The truth is out there for all to see. It is time now for us to direct the attention to the real malady of the system.
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