BSNL staff up in arms against Pitroda panel report

Fifteen employees' unions of state-run telecom behemoth BSNL on Wednesday threatened to go on agitation against the Sam Pitroda panel's recommendations for the company's listing, massive voluntary retirement scheme and scrapping of its Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion) expansion plans.

The panel constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to suggest means to revive BSNL, which has operations across the country barring Delhi and Mumbai, had suggested abandoning the Rs 35,000 crore plan to expand the company's GSM mobile network by 93 million lines.

It had also suggested a massive voluntary retirement scheme to let go 100,000 employees or a third of its workforce, and for unloading 30 per cent of government's stake to improve the financial health of the telecom PSU.

BSNL has over 300,000 employees and the company has seen profit fall to a little over Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) in 2008-09 from over Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in the previous fiscal, as private companies garner market share.

The unions, which represent employees ranging from executive to non-executives, will stage demonstrations across the country, including district level, on March 15.

"A sit-in would also be staged at the corporate office in Delhi and a decision on further course of action would be taken on March 15," V A N Namboodiri, Convener of Joint Forum of Executives and Non-Executives' Unions and Associations, told PTI.