BSNL associations,unions protest against management

Addressing the gathering,JAC convener Balwinder Singh and president M S Dhaliwal said the ITS officers’ absorption in BSNL was a major concern and in spite of assurances given by the Minister of Communication and the BSNL management,the issue was not settled even after 10 years of formation of the body. “Non-absorption of I T S is adversely affecting the day-to-day development and expansion plans of BSNL,” they said.

The agitated members said regarding the matters of equipment procurement and merger of 78.2 per cent IDA,the assurances given by the MOC were being violated. “Immediately after the 3G spectrum auctioning was over,BSNL hurriedly paid Rs 10,700 crore as spectrum charge to the government. The BSNL had no reason to pay such a huge amount,since,it did not participate in the bidding. It had every reason to claim for a waiver orconcession. The management cannot be allowed to throw away BSNL’s cash reserve in such a reckless manner. Again,the management might pay nearly Rs 13,000 crore to Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) as spectrum charges,for which bidding has concluded. After this,BSNL’s pocket will be empty,” they said.

JAC Secretary Raj Kumar,while addressing the gathering,said the Sam Pitroda panel recommendation,to give retirement to one lakh employees through VRS,will badly affect the livelihood of lakhs employees. Com Hakam Singh,CS SNATTA,condemned the UPA government and BSNL management for non-implementation of DPE orders,dated 28 November 2008,for merger of 78.2 per cent IDA. He also demanded immediate procurement of 10 million GSM lines.

Others who addressed the rally included BSNLEU district president Paramjit Singh,BSNLEU Avtar Singh Jhande,SNEA(I) district president Kamaljit Singh Shankar,AIBSNLEA district president Nirmal Singh,AIBSNLEA Baljinder Singh Khalsa and BSNLEU district vice-president Rajeev Sharma.