When Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad declared in Parliament last week that the government would resuscitate Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), there was a large constituency of its officers and employees hoping for measures to lift their morale at a time of intense competition from private operators.
Among them are 1,800 officers of the Indian Telecom Service (ITS) cadre who perform critical roles such as setting minimum equipment quality norms, choice of technology and forecasting future trends.
One of their long-pending concerns is the stagnation at both the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) and Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) where ITS officers with 35 years and 25 years of service have been waiting for eight to 10 years to make the grade, said senior officers who did not want to be named.
Pending
The process is pending despite the previous Cabinet’s direction to complete it by March 31 last year. This was followed up by a report which recommended only 2,443 ITS cadre posts in the DoT, half the number proposed by telecom officers and far less than the sanctioned strength of 6,355.
Telecom officers are reconciled to this number but point out that even this proposal has not been sent to the Department of Personnel after eight months. In the case of 1,000 officers sent to BSNL, an official said promotions should continue as was the system three years back.
To provide relief from stagnation, the officers have requested the Minister for “non-functional upgradation” to the next post which does not entail any additional financial burden. “This government must pay attention to this aspect because demotivation of officers will affect the growth of the ICT sector,” said a senior officer.
