Can BSNL become a financially viable enterprise and compete with the bigger private players, if its employees are disgruntled and approaching penury?

In recent years, young executives who’ve been working tirelessly to keep the state-owned telco afloat, have borne the brunt of unjust HR policies. We’ve seen little to no career progression, either in terms of salaries or promotions. 

The 2007-08 batch of junior telecom officers (JTOs) were recruited during the implementation of the 2nd PRC ( Pay Recommendation Committee of PSUs), with the promise that they will be compensated proportionately and the scale will be upgraded from non standard E1A to E2.

However, while the previous batch of executive got their pay fixed at Rs. 22820/-, the interim initial basic of the next 2 batches was arbitrarily fixed at Rs.19020/- , which was neither of the standard that was promised, nor based on the JTO Recruitment Rule advertised when the notification for recruitment was published.

Now with more than 13 years since the inception of the 2nd PRC anomaly, the loss to the individual executive from affected batches is huge and amounts to lakhs of rupees annually

Further, all subsequent batches were also recruited at a lower scale. The management hasn’t fulfilled its promise of implementing a standard pay scale for its junior telecom officers (JTOs) and sub-divisional engineers (SDEs). 

“About 13000 executives recruited/promoted by BSNL from 2009 to 2020 are suffering severe losses in their total emoluments due to non-approval of standard scale of E2-E3,” states the letter that our union has sent to the management. 

The last pay revision for around 30,000 BSNL executives happened in 2007! We are being denied our legitimated dues as the management is citing a financial crunch. But senior executives are enjoying the benefits of the 7th pay commission which came into effect in 2016. 

Some BSNL employees passed away amid the pandemic. Their families are getting just Rs 2,500 as pension! On the other hand, the SAB ( Super Annuation Benefit) for DOT (Department of Telecom) employees who were absorbed in BSNL ensured a healthy post-retirement life for them. As per the 2nd PRC recommendation, the post-retirement benefit for all BSNL recruited executives shall be 30% of Salary (Basic + DA). Today, it is only 21.5%, which has resulted in getting peanuts i.e. Rs 2500/- as EPF pension for any direct recruit BSNL employee retiring as on date. So, a minimum SAB of 30% is very much required for BSNL recruited employees.

Moreover, instead of providing term Insurance and health insurance, the management has even deducted the GTI (Group Term Insurance) and GHI (Group Health Insurance) from the employees' salaries. The contribution from the company in this account is a BIG ZERO. BSNL should take care of Term Insurance and Health Insurance of Employees and its dependants.

The BSNL Management also hasn’t cleared the promotion of assistant general manager/chief administrative officer (AGM/CAO)-equivalent grades. The Supreme Court had issued instructions for the same on 12 April this year, however on various grounds, management is showing a serious deficit in AGM/CAO cadre, but when it is coming to implement the long awaited Promotion, management is not taking any decisions. . 

BSNL executives are also being sidelined for promotions, with the management choosing to laterally recruit 300 people as management trainees (MTs). There’s an abundance of qualified engineers and account professionals who’ve been waiting for promotions. But instead of rewarding its own cadre for their years of dedicated service, the management is recruiting MTs through lateral entry. 

In the aftermath of the government’s voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), BSNL faced a serious staff crunch. Those who’ve stayed on, have worked tirelessly to help the company move forward. Our workload has risen manifold, but with no pay and perks, all of us are feeling demotivated about the job at hand. 

We will be submitting a memorandum with the full list of our demands to the Telecom Minister soon. Until then, BSNL executives will be wearing black badges as a sign of protest. 

Sign this petition for those who’ve been working for your internet, telephonic connectivity to remote locations, working on the backbone of banking, and providing critical telecom infrastructure and support during calamities, in a 22-year-old state-owned Telecom provider.

Image credits: The Hindu