The Narendra Modi-led Central Government is weakening the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited by not allocating sufficient funds and refusing to give nod for its ambitious expansion programmes, according to S. Sivakumar, president, All India BSNL Officers’ Association.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Sivakumar, who was here to attend the BSNL officers’ association’s State executive committee meeting on Wednesday, said the BSNL was not getting its due financial assistance from the Union Government for executing its expansion and modernisation plans though the public sector undertaking was giving excellent communication services to the rural population.
Consequently, the BSNL was getting weakened even as the private players in the field of telecommunication were aggressively executing expansion programmes.
Even as the BSNL was waiting indefinitely after formally submitting its application for giving 4G services to the subscribers, the Central Government was supporting the private players in this vital sector, he alleged.
He also came down heavily on the Centre for creating a separate corporation for administering BSNL’s 66,000-odd transmission towers across the country. The Central Government, by bifurcating the BSNL, had weakened the public sector undertaking and indirectly strengthened the rivals,” Mr. Sivakumar charged.
On the delay in the wage disparity, he said the Union Ministry of Communications was refusing to give its consent while the BSNL had agreed to give 15% salary hike. Hence, the BSNL employees and officials had decided to organise demonstrations in the district headquarters across in the country on October 4 and a candle procession would be organised in New Delhi, he added.