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Telecom strike called off

The government today bowed to pressure from agitating telecom employees and agreed to bifurcate the Department of Telecom Services into two departments: Department of Telecom Services and Department of Telecom Operations.

But while three unions of telecom employees today agreed to withdraw from the proposed all India strike of June 28 following the announcement, several other workers' organisations reiterated their determination to carry on the agitation.

Earlier in the day, prospects of calling off the strike had brightened with some employees organisations withdrawing their 25-day old 'work to rule' agitation, following an agreement with Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on the issue.

According to the agreement, the secretary of the newly-created DTO will be from the Indian Telecom Services.

Giving details of the action taken by the government to prevent the strike, Paswan said that the government had already decided to set up a Group of Ministers, headed by him, with Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, Labour Minister Satyanarain Jaitya, Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Minister of State for Personnel Vasundhara Raje Scindia, to look into the issues of pay scales, pensions and other related problems, arising out of the decision to corporatise DTS.

UNI

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