The Hindu Business Line : Revert us to Govt, demand BSNL staff

It is not just the 1,600 Indian Telecom Services Officers who are seeking to remain as Government employees; the other 3.9 lakh workers of the State-owned telecom company are now asking to be deputed back to the Department of Telecom (DoT).

These employees had opted to get absorbed in BSNL when the company was corporatised.

But with the Group A Indian Telecom Services officers still not opting to get absorbed in BSNL on grounds that terms offered were not attractive enough, the Group B, C and D workers are having a rethink on their earlier decision.

The employees union has sent a representation to the Prime Minister saying that if the Group A officers do not join, then other cadre officers will also not stay in BSNL.

“While more than 3 lakh employees and executives have already been absorbed in BSNL from the date of formation of the company in 2000, the Group A Officers, including ITS cadre, numbering about 1,600 are still in Government service. This has seriously affected the development, expansion and viability of service in BSNL. There is serious heartburn in the minds of the employees due to these double standards,” said Mr V.A.N. Namboodiri, Convener of the BSNL Employees Union.

Request to President soon

“After thorough discussions, the Joint Forum has concluded that the best solution is to ensure that all the employees who have absorbed in BSNL are repatriated to the DoT; this will result in a unified policy and help the growth of BSNL. As per this decision, all the 3 lakh BSNL employees and officers will be sending their request for repatriation to the President of India shortly,” he added.

The issue of absorption of these technical officers has been hanging fire since 2005. At the time of formation of BSNL on October 1, 2000, around 4,00,000 employees were transferred on deemed deputation to BSNL and MTNL for a period up to five years.

The Group ’A’ officers were given option to be absorbed in BSNL or MTNL or to revert to the Government by October 15, 2005. The ITS officers then decided to defy the deadline set by the Government.