Govt to punish people behind telecom 'sabotage'

Neena Haridas in New Delhi

Union Telecommunications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday said that a meeting of the chief general managers would be held in New Delhi on Friday to identify and punish the people who were behind the disruption of telecom services.

Meanwhile, the government came in for heavy flak from frustrated users over its failure to resolve a go-slow protest by telecom workers which has played havoc with long-distance calls, even as reports said that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was keen to see an early end to the problem.

The prime minister is said to have held a series of overnight meetings to try to resolve a serious breakdown in national telecommunications which entered its ninth straight day on Thursday.

Various consumer associations urged Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan to get phones working again or quit.

However, with Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan threatening action against the striking unions, the agitators themselves are at a weak spot after the sabotage attempts in certain circles.

According to sources, Paswan has made it clear that the government will not tolerate 'sabotage attempts'. A spokesman said the government was aware there had been "some tampering", a reference to reports of sabotage at some telephone exchanges, though he gave no specific instances.

"After all, people cannot be inconvenienced like this for long," Paswan told reporters in Ranchi when asked to comment on the ongoing agitation of the telecom employees affecting the services.

Sources in the telecom ministry said that Paswan is keen to end the strike as early as possible. He is "very upset" about the sabotage attempts. It is learnt that a solution might be drafted out at the meetings to be held between the striking employees and the minister.

However, the ministry refused to confirm whether the meetings would end amicably on Friday.

Telecom unions representing some 40,000 workers went on a work-to-rule strike protesting against privatisation in the telecom sector. Due to the go-slow protest by telecom workers, long distance calls had paralysed industry and businesses in the country, especially in the eastern sector.

It was the second crippling industrial action in less than three weeks to be triggered by the government's decision to convert the Department of Telecom Services into a state-owned company as part of its drive for economic reform.

Paswan said long-distance links had been restored across most of the country after a meeting with unions.

While links between Delhi and Bombay were better on Thursday, the eastern sector, especially north-east continued to be isolated.

The telecom engineers and officers want assurances, among others, on the financial viability of Bharat Sanchar Nigam, which will be carved out of DTS on October 1 through the creation of shares.

More than 200,000 workers staged a three-day strike earlier this month to win assurances from Paswan over pensions, job security and other concerns about the new company.

In Calcutta on Wednesday, Paswan held a high-level meeting to review the situation arising out of the strike.

This is the second crippling industrial action in less than three weeks to be triggered by the government's decision to convert the Department of Telecom Services into a state-owned company as part of its drive for economic reform.

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