Starting July 1, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) workplace employees in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar location have decided to comb their office premises themselves. The cleaning body of workers in their building has left because the news of the general public provider mission turning into cash-strapped reached them. “If the want is, we can rent cleaners and sweepers and pay them from our very own pockets in any other case do it ourselves,” Karamveer Naggar, a BSNL worker at the Ghaziabad office, said.
BSNL is in a serious monetary crisis and is seeking the authorities’ help. It has grown to become a bank for loans. BSNL despatched an SOS to the authorities, searching for instant help as it’s miles away, locating it “nearly impossible” to hold operations or manage Rs 850 crore income liability for June. The fantastic liabilities of nearly Rs thirteen 000 crores have made its enterprise “unsustainable,” the PSU stated within the letter despatched to the authorities.
What brought about the downfall of a profitable PSU?
The turmoil started two years ago; however, the count number came to light in February 2019, while the personnel’s salaries have been held lower back. The UPA regime allocated 3G spectrum to BSNL in 2008-09 before it started the auctions. However, the essential equipment was not procured until 2013. In keeping with an order circulated, BSNL failed to procure Chinese-manufactured gadgets, which caused numerous delays.
“Currently, BSNL is left at 10 in step with a cent of the mobile marketplace percentage and 70 in keeping with a cent landline share. BSNL currently owes about Rs 6000 crores to companies’s legal responsibility. Even if they do not pay our salaries, we need them to pay the seller liabilities,” a worker affiliation head in Delhi stated.
The telecom PSU made income till 2009. In 2016-17, the loss was Rs four 793 crore,s and in 2017-18, BSNL had an annual lack of Rs 7,992 crore. Employees agonize that the loss is truely due to the regulations of the consecutive vital governments (the then United Progressive Alliance and modern National Democratic Alliance).
Why peg financial burden on employees?
Between 2000 and 2009, the PSU earned around Rs 10,00aundaroundre yearly, and at that point, the number of personnel was higher (around three lahks) than the modern number of employees present, nearly one and a half lakh employees employed by BSNL.
In 2016, NITI Aayog, the Centre’s think tank, added BSNL to the list of loss-making PSUs and proposed closing it instead of reviving the unwell PSU. While competition is currently lookingg at the 5G spectrum auction, BSNL has been systematically saved from even going for 4G as it would cost the exchequer approximately Rs 14,000 crore.
The employees stated that comparing with personal gamers was unfair. Individual players like Jio, Vodafone, and Airtel use an outsourcing model for operations. BSNL is a PSU wherein employees work full-time.
The fund crunch has reduced electricity delivery. Around 20 percent of the power supply to towers is being disrupted. Some states in which strength supply is nevertheless being given are Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, more than 500 BTS are down.
The count is now caught on the permission of the Department of Telecom to allow mortgage borrowings. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has not permitted them to approach the banks. However, questions are being raised: if BSNL picks up a loan, how will it repay it? While talks of a revival package deal are being done, employees wait for answers to what the government could do to assist the PSU function every day and whether the authority’s intervention will now renew the PSU.
