Employees of the government-owned telecom service providers, BSNL, have decided to organise a country-wide hunger strike on Monday demanding the early implementation of the cabinet decisions on the Bharat Sanchar Nigam’s revival.
The strike will be organised by the All Unions and Associations of BSNL (AUAB) which also aims at putting pressure on the expeditious settlement of employees’ grievances.
In a decision taken last year by the cabinet, Rs 69,000 crore revival package was approved for both the BSNL and MTNL.
The package included allotment of the 4G spectrum, issuing a sovereign guarantee for raising Rs 15,000 crore — Rs 8,500 crore for BSNL and Rs 6,500 crore for MTNL — via long term bonds, monetisation of assets and implementation of Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).
According to the statement, as of now, only VRS has been implemented and 78,569 BSNL employees have been sent home. The BSNL has not been allotted 4G spectrum and the sovereign guarantee is also awaited.
The process of monetisation of BSNL’s assets is also moving slowly, it added.
The AUAB further said that after the Supreme Court’s recent judgment on the AGR calculation, uncertainties in the telecom sector have been created, due to which banks are unwilling to extend loans to BSNL.
It further said that due to delay in the 4G spectrum allotment and non-availability of funds, BSNL was likely to launch 4G services by the end of 2020.