Paswan gets tough as telecom stir continues

MUMBAI, SEPT 21: Differences between the Union Government and the telecom unions over various issues continued to haunt subscribers for th...

MUMBAI, SEPT 21: Differences between the Union Government and the telecom unions over various issues continued to haunt subscribers for the fourth successive day even as the government declared that telecom services in most of the national routes had been restored.

But telecom engineers and officers working in the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd MTNL, operators of New Delhi and Mumbai circles, said they would continue their agitation till their demands were met.

A government statement said telecom traffic to and from Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Rajkot, Bhopal, Indore, Guwahati and Calcutta had been restored and the eastern region, which was the worst-hit following agitation by DoT officials have been restored through alternate routes.

8220;It is possible that subscribers may experience a little difficulty during peak traffic hours due to congestion in the exchanges. The department is making all out efforts to restore normalcy immediately,8221; it added. Till Wednesday telecom services continued to remain disrupted in various parts of the country prompting Communication Minister Ram Vilas Paswan to hold an urgent meeting of the telecom department on Friday.

8220;Those involved in any irresponsible act would be dealt with in a firm manner,8221; Paswan cautioned protesting employees after the special meeting in which the department reviewed telecom services which have been out of gear for the last three days in several parts of the country.

Agitating MTNL unions say more than 10,000 engineers and officers working for MTNL since the last 14 years have not been absorbed in service yet. 8220;MTNL still does not have its own officers and engineers,8221; union officials say. Moreover the officers are demanding pay scales on par with other PSUs like international telephony service provider, VSNL.

After much persuasion, the Department of Telecom Services DTS issued absorption notice wherein the last date for exercising option was August 16, MTNL unions said. 8220;The officers and engineers who were otherwise not unwilling to be absorbed in MTNL, could not exercise options by the stipulated period as the service conditions including pay scales and pensions were not decided by DTS and the last date was extended to the month-end,8221; they added

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The MTNL management and DTS are unmoved and the situation is at such a point where engineers and officers may not be in a position to exercise the options even by September-end as those issues still remain unresolved, they said.

He also said the government8217;s 8220;indifferent attitude8221; was reflected in the fact that after former CMD S Rajagopalan8217;s tenure exit no regular incumbent has been appointed. The MTNL, unions say, is virtually headless. The launching of the much-publicised mobile telephone service has not taken off while the share value has dipped to a new low.

Govt hopeful of ending the agitation soon: Ghosh

NEW DELHI: The Union Government said it was hopeful that the agitation by striking officers and engineers would be withdrawn shortly. quot;We are currently in the process of sorting out most of the issues with the unions and there is no reason to believe that the agitation would continue for long,quot; Department of Telecom DoT Secretary Shyamal Ghosh told reporters here.