On Sunday, India’s premier news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) terminated 297 non-editorial staff. It has come as a shock across India and the Unions have decided to stage protests from October 1 and approach the courts. PTI has published the list of 297 employees most of them belonging to the post of Transmission Supervisors, Engineers, Assistants and Attenders, which according to PTI’s Board have become redundant now.
“Your services with PTI Ltd are being retrenched with immediate effect as there is no work for your post,” said the short letter to the retrenched 297 staffers. The decision was approved by Saturday’s Board, which also selected The Hindu newspaper published N Ravi as the PTI Chairman and Punjab Kesari newspaper’s Chief Editor Vijay Kumar Chopra as Vice Chairman. PTI is owned by a consortium of media barons.
Federation of PTI Employees Union declared protests at PTI offices against the illegal retrenchment from October 1. But how long these protests will survive and ultimately lead to protracted legal cases, where management with deep pockets will contest it up to the last legal forum.
According to a Board Member of PTI, who is also a media baron, while speaking to PGurus said this “hard” decision was long pending. “How long PTI can maintain more than 500 people holding redundant posts with huge salaries? After computerisation, many jobs are redundant from mid-90s and PTI was paying hefty salaries as per Wage Board prescribed levels,” he said assuring that the Board will provide “decent” and “justifiable” compensation package.
PGurus recently published an article on PTI’s sacked union leader MS Yadav, who was caught for selling union’s land to his son in dubious ways[1]. Interestingly, Yadav, who is close to the PTI management, is not in the retrenched list, though he is continuing in service on annual extensions. PTI’s retirement age is 60 and staffers say Yadav had crossed 65 years of age. Yadav joined as Plumber is now holding the post of a Senior Regional Engineer with a monthly salary of Rs.1.5 lakhs!
For the past two years Indian media is facing massive retrenchment of journalists. More than 2000 journalists have lost their jobs in big media houses like Hindustan Times, NDTV and Telegraph[2].
References:
[1] PTI staffers union expels its leader for land grabbing. Files complaint with police for selling union’s land to son – Sep 29, 2018, PGurus.com
[2] Telegraph and Ananda Bazar Patrika terminate more than 750 Journalists to cut costs – Feb 3, 2017, PGurus.com
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On 27th November , After two months of financial crisis and emotional breakdown , Delhi High Court provided a sigh of relief to 297 non-journalist employees of country’s premier news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) who were retrenched by the PTI management on 29th September,2018. Honorable Justice C. Hari Shankar , in the PTI EMPLOYEES UNION & OTHERS v/s PTI LTD case and as an interim judgment , stayed the management’s step of retrenchment and accordingly the retrenched employees resumed their services at respective centers all over the country .
The main petitioner of the case , PTI Employees Union , has appealed in high court on behalf of retrenched employees throughout the country and has demanded in its petition to invalidate the whole retrenchment process and reinstatement of employees with immediate effect . Mr. Collin Gonsalves , a senior advocate of Supreme Court and a well-known international human rights’ award winner , argued against the management in court as counsel of petitioner .
However , PTI management has also plead in judiciary that it followed all the legal procedures and has ,also , taken the Federation of PTI Employees Union into its confidence before the execution of retrenchment .
The hearing for final verdict is supposed to begin from the third week of February .
कामरेड्स/साथियो
एक कहावत है ” चोर चोर मौसेरे भाई ” हमारे सीईओ और मौजूदा फेडरेशन की जोड़ी इसी तरह से है .
दोस्तों…बहुत से साथियों को यह धारणा घर कर गयी थी की
…1…बहुत ही पढ़े लिखे सीईओ ने पी टी आयी का कार्यभार संभाला है जरूर पी टी आई को प्रगति के पथ पर ले जायेगा ,
….2…पी टी आई फेडरेशन में नए लोग आये है कर्मचारियों के लिए अच्छा काम करेंगे .
लेकिन दुर्भाग्य वश लोंगो की यह दोनों धारणाये जमीनी हक़ीक़त के रूप में शून्य होकर रह गयी ,
1.क्योंकि सीईओ को तो पी टी आई के इतिहास में सबसे बेकार और मानवता को तार -तार करने वाला और विश्व में जानी जाने वाली हमारी पी टी आई संस्था को तहस नहश करने के लिए ही जाना जायेगा और बोर्ड ऑफ़ डायरेक्टर भी इसके लिए बराबर के उत्तरदायी होंगे .आप सभी लोंगो को मालूम है कि वर्तमान सीईओ के अबतक के कार्यकाल में पी टी आई को प्रगति पर ले जाने के लिए कोई भी प्रयास नहीं किया गया ,बल्कि अनावश्यक रूप से 20 से भी ज्यादा अपने चहेतो को पी टी आई में अच्छे वेतन पर नौकरी देकर संस्था को लूटने का काम किया ,पुरे दो साल में कोई भी मैनेजमेंट के द्वारा अनावश्यक खर्च को नहीं रोका गया .
…2…..ठीक सीईओ के तर्ज पर जिस तरह सीईओ ने संस्था को बर्बाद करने में कोई कमी नहीं की उसी तरह मौजूदा फेडरेशन ने भी सीईओ के इशारे पर अपने कुछ लोंगो के निहित स्वार्थ को पूरा करने के लिए कर्मचारियों के साथ इतना बड़ा विश्वासघात , किया की हम 297 कर्मचारी सड़क पर आ गए ,और आज भी फेडरेशन नेतृत्व यह कह रहा है की हम कर्मचारियों के हित के लिए कार्यरत है ,
साथियों, आप सभी प्रामाणिक दस्तावेजों ,साक्ष्य और इनके प्रतदिन के बदलते बयानों को सुने , और सोच विचार करके इस दग़ाबाज़ी फेडरेशन के खिलाफ जल्द निर्णय लो कही ऐसा न हो की फेडरेशन और सीईओ का गठबंधन हम लोंगो को कंही का न छोड़े,,
इसलिए आप सभी से कहना चाहता हूँ की पी टी आई एम्प्लाइज यूनियन ही अब एकमात्र विकल्प है जिसके तहत हम लोग अपना केस मजबूती से लड़ने और जीतने में सक्षम है .और जीतेंगे भी .
धन्यवाद
It is very humiliating for all of us, who lost our jobs, to come to know that on one hand the federation felt privileged to congratulate the deputy chairman of pti for his upcoming promotion but these federation leaders never took any precautionary measures to halt the retrenchment process in spite of being aware of this bloodshed way before the actual date of event . These federation leaders were so incapable and crippled that they put the lives of 297 employees at the mercy of the management. I am quite confidently stating that if the federation leaders would have fiercely agitated the thought of retrenchment in its nascent stage it couldn’t have devastated our lives. But no , on the contrary federation opted to go into the safe cell and thrown the future of 297 families in front of a monstrous event .
What is more insulting is that federation didn’t even find it necessary to inform us about it , in advance . If they would have done so , an prior agitation of the employees on the move could have eliminated this idea of retrenchment before its birth . But again we were betrayed . We were left unaware and unprotected to face the hardships . If this is not the treason then what is it ?. Our jobs are snatched and we will fight against management and conspirators till we get justice . WE FELL TOGETHER , WE WILL STAND TOGETHER . I got it from the site of PRESS trust of india employees union.
It is very humiliating for all of us, who lost our jobs, to come to know that on one hand the federation felt privileged to congratulate the deputy chairman of pti for his upcoming promotion but these federation leaders never took any precautionary measures to halt the retrenchment process in spite of being aware of this bloodshed way before the actual date of event . These federation leaders were so incapable and crippled that they put the lives of 297 employees at the mercy of the management. I am quite confidently stating that if the federation leaders would have fiercely agitated the thought of retrenchment in its nascent stage it couldn’t have devastated our lives. But no , on the contrary federation opted to go into the safe cell and thrown the future of 297 families in front of a monstrous event .
What is more insulting is that federation didn’t even find it necessary to inform us about it , in advance . If they would have done so , an prior agitation of the employees on the move could have eliminated this idea of retrenchment before its birth . But again we were betrayed . We were left unaware and unprotected to face the hardships . If this is not the treason then what is it ?. Our jobs are snatched and we will fight against management and conspirators till we get justice . WE FELL TOGETHER , WE WILL STAND TOGETHER .
Jab se pti me Ceo aur nai federation aayi hai dono mil kar pti ko loot rahe hai aur yeh sidhe ho chuka hai. CEO aate hi renovation ke naam par federation ke sath mil kar pata nahi kya kya kar raha hai. Aur aik ye pti ki nai federation pti ke itihas ki paheli biki hui federation. CEO ke kadmo me gir chuki hai. Logo ki naukariyon dono mil kar kha rahe hai. Ye dono pti me subse bade dada hai.
Yeh sab pti ke CEO aur Federation ke leaders ki mili bhagat hai. CEO khud to 1.5 crore se upar salana salary utha raha hai five week kar khud week me two three days Sara hai. Federation leaders saare bache huwe hai. Toh mili bhagat kisi ki hai. Humari ya in logo ki
Without the consent of federation and without under knowledge of pti federation management could not bring retrenchment. Federation has been bow down in front of management. And they had made deal with management. Why the prominent leader of federation spare from retrenchment. It is apprent pti federation definetely a culprit.