Dismantling of BSNL by the Government
BSNL employees and officers
have observed a three-day
country-wide strike from February
18 to 20, highlighting their long-
pending issues. The strike that had
been supported by all central trade
unions, excluding the Bharatiya
Mazdoor Sangh (Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh’s labour
wing), have put forward their
demand charter. The demand
charter includes implementation of
the 3rd Pay Revision with 15%
fitment; allotment of 4G spectrum
to BSNL, as per the proposals
submitted by the BSNL Manage-
ment; implementation of the
assurance of the Minister of State
for Communications for delinking
pension revision from pay revision;
revision of pension of BSNL
retirees with effect from January 1,
2017; payment of pension
contribution by BSNL as per
government rules; and settlement
of the pending issues of the
2nd Pay Revision Committee.
While at the time of its
formation, the decision for the
financial viability of BSNL had been
taken, it is yet to be implemented.
Now, the employees and officers in
BSNL are demanding issuance of
a letter of comfort for BSNL’s
proposals for taking bank loans
along with filling up all vacant posts
of the Board of Directors. They
have also demanded the approval
of BSNL’s Land Management
Policy without any delay;
completion of the mutation and
process of transferring of all assets
to BSNL, as per the Cabinet
decision taken on the eve of the
formation of BSNL; and scrapping
of the telco’s outsourcing for
operation and maintenance of its
mobile towers, etc.
On the other side, the telco
headquartered in Delhi has issued
18
a statement that, “The Department
of Telecom (DoT) is in the process
of finalising a proposal for the
revival of BSNL to be considered
by the Digital Communications
Commission (DCC) very soon,”
following reports revealing the
Centre’s move to dismantle the
BSNL. Earlier, The Times of
India had reported that the
direction from the Centre to the
company to consider all options
including closure was given after
the BSNL officials’ meeting with
telecom secretary.
The public sector service
provider had been making profits
till 2009 since its inception in 2000.
However, in the 2017-18, BSNL had
an annual loss of Rs. 7,992 crore
whereas in 2016-17, the loss was
Rs. 4,793 crore. But, BSNL was not
the only service provider that faced
loss during the same period. These
losses are simply due to the
policies of the consecutive
governments at the centre.
At the time of its formation the
Group of Ministers “has decided
that for discharging obligations in
regard to rural telephony or any
other uneconomic services, BSNL
would be duly compensated. But
the compensation for providing the
loss making rural land line services
was gradually reduced and finally
abolished, thus imposing losses on
BSNL.
The Government, by raising
various unwarranted objections
has prevented BSNL from procuring
the equipment required for the
expansion of its mobile network, for
a long time, from 2007 to 2012.
In 2010 the Government has
allocated 3G spectrum and BWA
spectrum to BSNL including for the
circles where it will not be
commercially viable, and collected
a huge amount of Rs 18500 crore
thus gobbled up most of its cash
reserves.
These are the factors
intentionally created by the
Government for imposing losses on
BSNL.
At the same time the
Government
has
been
encouraging the private telecom
operators in various ways by
bending or mending rules and also
violating the rules.
The license fee to be paid by
the private operators as per the
tender was reduced in 1999 by the
care taker Government of
Vajpayee violating all fairness. It
resulted in a loss of Rs 43000 crore
to the exchequer as per the reply
given by the Government in the
Parliament and it was known as
‘telecom scam’.
The Private Operators were
given concessions by the present
Government to help them for
repaying their debt to the banks by
extending the spectrum charge
payment instalments from 10 years
to 16 years and the Government
is examining the issue of extending
further concessions to them.
But it has not given any such
concession to BSNL. It has been
delaying the allotment of 4G
spectrum to BSNL. It has denied
providing Letter of Confidence to
BSNL for taking loans from national
banks to tide over the present
crisis. The land and assets of DoT
have to be transferred to BSNL as
per the orders issued by the
Government at the time of
formation of BSNL. But this
process remains to be done.
The goal of self-reliance in
telecom equipment manufacture
will suffer due to the fact that the
Government cannot compel the
private operators to procure dome-
stically manufactured equipment.
Class Struggle