NEW DELHI: State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) executives sought to resolve multiple human resource (HR) issues, such as pay scale norm, derailed promotions and retirement benefits, and plan to notify Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw before further intensifying protests.
In a letter to the chairman of BSNL, All India Graduate Engineers & Telecom Officers Association (AIGETOA), dated July 11, said nearly 13,000 executives recruited and promoted by BSNL between 2009 and 2020 suffered severe losses in their total emoluments as a result of not adopting the standard scale.
“It is important to note that on the one hand, approximately 30,000 BSNL executives are struggling with pay issues and denying all legitimate contributions due to the financial crisis, and on the other, senior managers are enjoying all the rewards and benefits of the 7th Payroll Review,” the statement said. letter said, adding that equal treatment of executives or engineers has not been extended by the company’s management.
Furthermore, the executives group claimed that management failed completely in its duty to ensure the social security of its employees.
In recent times, hundreds of BSNL employees have left due to Covid-19 and many families are completely confused because there is no proper support with insufficient pension, the serving executives emphasized.
The Delhi-based body plans to hand over the memorandum to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Secretary of the Telecommunications Department K Rajaraman next week, and continue wearing black insignia and strike indefinitely unless their demands are met.
Furthermore, the group said their attempts to break the deadlock through dialogue were in vain as the telco’s management failed to keep up with their own words.
Last year, BSNL provided ex-gratia on the account of a voluntary pension scheme (VRS) to 78,569 employees who opted for early retirement.
Following the VRS approval as part of the revival package in October 2019, the strength of 1.53,000 employees was reduced to 50%. However, the measure was created to save the enormous salary depletion.
The public sector service provider is expected to be the highly anticipated next generation of 4G network along with Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-backed consortium, and the launch of the commercial service is estimated to increase its revenue by more than 20%.