BSNL staff in Mysuru oppose govt. move to take over its training centre

The employees of Central government-owned public sector telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) held a demonstration outside the office of the General Manager of Telecom Jayalakshmipuram in Mysuru on Monday to protest against the Narendra Modi government’s move to take over the telecom company’s training centre spread across 81 acres in Ghaziabad.

The demonstration was held in response to a strike call given by All Unions and Associations of BSNL (AUAB), Mysuru, whose office bearers argued that the “unilateral” decision of the Department of Telecom will adversely affect BSNL’s skill development efforts across the country.

The protest comes after Ministry of Communication, in a Presidential order dated November 10, 2023, said the Advanced Level Telecom Training Centre (ALTTC) in Ghaziabad spread across 81 acres including the building and infrastructure should be handed to the possession of National Telecommunication Institute for Policy, Research, Innovation and Training (NTIPRIT).

The Presidential decree had further said that BSNL should take appropriate action to hand over the ALTTC campus to NTIPRIT and send compliance to Department of Telecom by December 17, 2023.

“This development has been strongly opposed by the BSNL Training Centre and the group representing 70,000 workforce,” the AUAB convenor Puttaswamy and President Nagendra said in a joint press statement here on Monday.

“The Presidential order may derail the 4G/5G skill development activities of BSNL for meeting the roll-out of its 4G services”, the statement said adding that the state-owned service provider, which is also operating MTNL mobile services in Delhi and Mumbai metropolitan areas, is deploying a home-grown 4G network gear supplied by a TCS-led consortium. “Analysts say BSNL, a late entrant in 4G services, is already facing stiff competition from private rivals such as Reliance Jio Bharti Airtel’s 5G services launched last year”, the statement said.

Recently, the BSNL’s training centre had set up a 4G laboratory to train officers in an effort to expedite the commercial roll out of next generation 4G in line with the country’s self-reliance ambition, the AUAB representatives said.

The protestors said they were against the “forceful, illegal, unethical and unilateral” issue of Presidential order by the Department of Telecommunication to take over BSNL’s assets worth ₹ 6,000 crores at ALTTC in Ghaziabad without passing even a single rupee’s benefit to BSNL.

The leaders of AUAB urged the Government of India and Department of Telecom to withdraw the order to take over BSNL’s assets. They threatened to intensify the agitation if there is no positive response from the authorities.