A large number of BSNL officers and employees stayed away from duties on the first day of the two-day nationwide strike in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday. They were protesting against alleged attempts by the Central government to encourage private operators to the detriment of the public sector telecom giant.
The strike evoked good response in East Godavari district as almost cent per cent of the work force abstained from duties.
Only the General Manager (GM) and three deputy general managers were on duty at the telecom district office in Rajahmundry. BSNL officers and employees staged a protest in front of the GM’s office under the scorching sun and shouted slogans against the Central government policies.
JAC District Convener P. Maheswara Rao, Sanchar Nigam Executives’ Association District Secretary Ch. Venkat Rao, All India BSNL Employees’ Association (AIBSNLEA) District secretary T. Nagaraju, National Federation of Telecom Employees (NFTE) Secretary J. Satyanarayana and others ventilated their grievances.
The strike was total in Vizianagaram district. Employees and officials of BSNL demanded that the government should compensate the rural landline losses, supply equipment on time, shelve the proposed merger of BSNL and MTNL and sort out other issues which hindered growth of BSNL. A.B.K. Ramesh of BSNL Employees’ Union, G. Bhaskara Rao of NFTE, Siva Prasad of AIBSNLEA and others staged the protest against what they described as victimization of BSNL.
The protest is against the Centre’s alleged attempts to encourage private operators
