Dr. MANMOHAN SINGH WHY?

Dr. Manmohan Singh-- Why??

• The central PSUs are an important constituent of the Indian economy, and have been a major instrument in driving industrial growth, economic development, employment generation and equitable distribution of wealth in post-independence India.


• Our pay revision was due from 1.1.2007 after ten years of constant persuasion and perseverance. During the Oil Sector Strike, Government advertised that at entry level the salary (CTC) in metro shall become one lakh per month. The facts are otherwise. The details are:

Why did the UPA Government lie to the Public?

• Hon’ble Prime Minister – today the fulcrum of economy is CPSUs. The total income of the CPSUs was Rs 14,675.41 bn during FY08, which was equivalent to 31.1% of India’s GDP at current market prices. Why have you painted the PSUs in wrong picture?


• The effective tax rate for the PSUs grew from 28.9% in 2004 to over 31.4% in 2008 while the effective tax rate declined by over 350 basis points for private sector companies to 22.9% for the same period. Why this government that uses our tax payers money for their salaries could not give us a fair pay revision?


• In 2008, the public sector companies paid over 33.5% of their net profit as dividends to equity shareholders, whereas their private sector peers paid only 20.6% of their profits as dividends. Hon’ble Prime Minister why when we give so much to the country our salaries are only 30% of the private sector.?


• Hon’ble Prime Minister – why this vast variance between what you government advertised and what we shall actually get now?


• The Government has failed all the CPSUs and wants to finish off the technocrats that are actually contributing to this country.


• We love our country and shall continue to deliver. But what has this government done to us is nothing but disrespected us, demoralized and demotivated us.

OFFICERS AND FAMILIES OF CENTRAL PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKINGS.

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.

---A peaceful striker

Oil Men Strike

A Large chunk of ONGCians are first class students right from higher Secondary to Post graduation and served the company for about 5 to 20 years in general. Many of us are technical staff who have been working in remote locations and harsh environment like Mumbai High and North East. It is well known that Mother Earth has its best resources in unassailable terrains and so in hunt for oil we were always strewn far away from our loved ones. Many a time we miss our children’s birthdays and some times their birth itself, would not be by the side of our aged parents when they breathe their last and rush to our homes for their last rites. We are not complaining about it. We take pride in our work. No missed birthdays or missing the last sight of a departed soul in our family takes away our pride in working for ONGC. We work with a zeal that is hard to express and the joy we get is akin to what a soldier might have in serving his motherland. We wear our ID cards close to our hearts and feel the elation of serving our Country. No matter what the TV Channels called us during our 3 day strike we refuse to feel humiliated. We earned it, the right to feel proud of our work. Our ability to fight fires on offshore platforms and move by OSVs to open a well in the middle of a stormy night with a torch light and adjustable spanner in our hand makes us feel close to the people of this nation. The greater goal has always been our country’s energy security.

Pay Revision is not an issue, slighting the Oil Men is!! If the best men of our country like you lend us a deaf ear it hurts and it hurts badly!! The just demands being thrown out like dirt and the high handed approach to handle the strike of the officers speaks poorly of an enlightened Government. If a group of qualified people cannot be handled justly then what would be the fate of rogues and destructive elements.

Tarnishing the image of Armed Forces and Educated Officials does not augur well for this country. May the erudite people should spare a second to think why these crises had emerged in the first place, would give us a better solution. The attrition level of the critical work force is alarming to say the least. This Pay Revision could have dealt with it in a sensible manner, but now it is going to be fire fighting at the Corporation level. The system of natural justice would come into play and time would show who was right. Correction at that point would be much more difficult.

If a brilliant child is neglected and chided for his genuine wants he would be suffocated and his performance gradually reaches mediocrity. Please do not make our Oil Sector Mediocre!!

P. Suresh
SE (P)
ONGC

WE THE OFFICERS OF OIL PSUs

We the officers of Oil PSUs faithfully and loyally served this great nation for decades. Our sweat & strive of ages has fuelled the economic growth of this great nation.

We toiled unseen in deserts, mountains, high seas & war zones, manning hard locations from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, in war or peace, in storm or calm, in rain and draught and in prosperity or adversity.

We stood steadfast in major calamities, tsunamis, earthquakes and wars and terror attacks. We, engineers, MBAs, CAs and professionals from the best of institutes of India, did not hesitate to withstand hardships with soldiers in Leh & Ladakh. When duty called, we stood in the middle of war zones hand in hand with our brave soldiers, ensuring them fuel, for we made a commitment to this great nation long before any of the so-called private players even dreamt of entering the arena.
We were compared to the armed forces and yes indeed many of us undergo equal hardships. When the world came to a standstill, we still moved, sometimes at the cost of our very lives, trusting that our interests would be guarded by the Govt that we served.

We have dedicated our lives to our organizations and do not believe in job-hopping. Our companies are not just commercial enterprises but they are families that care for, love and nurture one-another and from them stems the spirit of true service to our nation.

We did not seek to wear Armani or Prada or look to sport Gucci or Versace. We did not aspire to travel in Mercs or Bentleys. We only asked for a semblance of a just remuneration due to us as hardworking and responsible officers of the so-called Premier Fortune 500 Navratna Enterprises of this Country

We went on strike but after months and years of patient waiting. We placed out trust in the Custodians of our nation but were let down time and again. We were rebuffed and short-changed and yet we persevered. We were driven against a stone wall and left with no recourse. We went on Strike, but responsibly. We gave ample time to the powers that be.

We thought we were reasoning with just authorities, sympathetic to our just cause, as had been for ages.

But Alas….

We were stunned at this new hostility and shocked at its severity.

We were censored, suppressed and bullied with pre-meditated ruthlessness. We were forced to surrender without a trace of acknowledgement and with cruelty & callousness. A terrifying agenda seems to emerge in all its gory starkness and we are bewildered.

Each single one of us is perplexed and weeping and we do not know where to take our pain and hurt, where to turn for assurance. We are stripped of our cocoon of peace and security that is so vital to our mode of single-minded purpose of service.

Sentenced as terrorists, blackmailers and treated as mercenary upstarts by a self-serving media, we do not know who is our benefactor, our patron any more. We wonder how to regain our dignity in the Nation’s eyes. With wounded pride we appealed to the people of this great nation to look at us again, this time with a little measure of empathy and understanding and to look at our side of the story.

On 09.01.2009, every Officer of this noble community wept tears of blood and sorrow on the humiliation and disgrace heaped on us, on the killing of our hopes and aspirations with brutal force. And we turned to each other.

This time round we have empowered ourselves ……… united and resolved to be survivors …..and to save our beloved PSUs from death. We will endure and endeavor to be winners in our battle for truth and justice.

We never forsook our duties and never will. We have and always will be standing in self-less service to the people of this country but ask only to be allowed to do so with our pride and dignity intact.


We are confident that our solidarity, integrity and single-mindedness of purpose will carry us through these testing times.

“Only Free Men Can Negotiate. Prisoners Cannot Enter Into Contract” - Nelson Mandela