The Hindu Business Line : BSNL staff union opposes proposal to divest 20% stake

Tiruchi, Dec. 1 The National Federation of Telecom Employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has taken strong exception to the proposed move by the Union Ministry of Information Technology and Communications to disinvest 20 per cent of BSNL’s share.

In an interview, the All India Secretary of NFTE-BSNL, Mr C.K. Mathivanan, said that BSNL was the only big telecom network catering to the rural sector. In fact, BSNL incurred heavy losses in its landline services for rural customers.

India’s monthly addition of new mobile phone customers stands at 85 lakhs. In the last seven years, their strength has risen to 25 crore and is expected to be doubled in the next 2-3 years.

Mr Mathivanan cautioned that disinvestment would prompt the private sector to step up the mobile phone base, at the cost of BSNL working lines, particularly in the area of rural telecommunication facilities.

He said that the disinvestment was also an anti-labour policy, affecting BSNL employees’ job security and creating room for problems relating to retrenchment of employees. Compulsory retirement policies would be introduced and employees would also be deprived of pension benefits, he said.

Asset impact

BSNL’s assets stood at Rs 4 lakh crore and 20 per cent disinvestment, equivalent to Rs 80,000 crore, would become the ‘mother of disinvestment’ in the public sector industry in the country, he said.

The NFTE-BSNL representatives would call on the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Union Minister for Information Technology and Communications, Mr A. Raja, by next week, to impress upon them the need for withdrawing the proposal.

“We do not want to dilute the character of BSNL,” Mr Mathivanan said. NFTE-BSNL would resort to a nationwide stir, if nothing materialised after the meeting, he added.

More Stories on : Trade & Labour Unions | Disinvestment | Telecommunications

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