PTI employees march to parliament against the illegal retrenchment of 297 employees

 

PTI Employees marched today to Parliament against the illegal retrenchment of their 297 colleagues and gave a memorandum to the Prime Minister for immediate intervention into the PTI affairs. The Federation of PTI Employees’ Unions organized the march this morning in association with several media associations and important media trade unions including IJU, IFWJ, Times of India, Indian Express, Press Club of India and Press Association.

 

The employees demanded immediate revocation of the retrenchment of the employees and alleged that the management had retrenched the permanent employees en-mass under the pressure of the PTI Board members, who are themselves mostly the owners of big newspaper groups, to finish—off the media trade—unionism in the country.

 

They said that on the one hand the PTI management has alleged that the organization is under financial trouble but on the other hand the same management has borrowed over fifty crores of Rupees to illegally retrench the 297 permanent employees of the organization, working across the country for the last about minimum of thirty years.

 

In the memorandum presented to the Prime Minister after the march, the Federation sought the government intervention to as the PTI is an organization of National Interest, incorporated at the initiative of the then Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel in 1949.

 

In the memorandum the Federation demanded, “the Government needs to immediately intervene into the PTI affairs as the present management is working against the interests of the PTI, the national news agency.”

 

It said, “If the PTI will die, the nation may lose its control over the information network of the globe, required in the national interest.”

 

Earlier the Federation marched to the Parliament in the day under the leadership of the General Secretary, Balram Singh Dahiya and the Federation President AG Mohan.

 

In the march over 250 PTI employees from over 35 centers across the country and the top leaders of the different media trade unions, Press Club of India and media associations participated.

 

All the leaders severely criticized the PTI management for its anti—worker policies and demanded the immediate revocation of the retrenchment of the 297 permanent employees.

 

The top leaders who participated in the march were PTI Federation Vice President Sagar T Bhurke, Federation Assistant General Secretaries from Kolkata Atanu Pal, Kishore Bhorker from Mumbai, Federation Treasurer JS Rawat from Delhi, PTI Workers’ Union, Delhi General Secretaries Sujata Mathur, President, Rajan Venna and senior leaders of the Federation Raju Naik, Dr. Indukant Dixit, Shahid Akhtar and Prashant Rane.

 

Other than the Federation leaders, the President of Press Club of India Gautam Lahri, the Times of India Employees’ Union’s General Secretary, Hawaldar Singh, Senior Journalist, Ms Kavita Pant, Senior Journalist of ‘Jan Hastakshep’ Anil Dubey, Senior Journalist Umakant Lakhera and others also participated.