Despite being a profit-making public sector enterprise, the Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) unit at Kanjikode near here is reeling under severe crisis with the Union government unwilling to implement the long-awaited modernisation package and restoring its autonomy in disbursing salary to more than 700 employees.
The salaries are pending for the past two months.
An irked group of employees under the banner of ITI Employees Association laid siege to the office of additional general manager T.N.S. Raghavan on Thursday. They are also planning to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking justice.
According to association general secretary K. Karunakaran, the turnover of the unit in the last fiscal was Rs.153.13 crore.
The company as a whole conducted business worth Rs.1,252 crore in the financial year. It was for the first time in the past 14 years.
‘Funds diverted’
On its part, Kanjikode unit made significant achievements by providing technical support to National Population Registry project and socio-economic caste census. However, Mr. Karunakaran alleged that the authorities had diverted funds worth Rs.540 crore from the working capital of the company. “Now, the management says it can release the pending salaries only after getting clearance from the Union government,”
In the past 19 years, the Palakkad unit of the ITI has always been making profit. But the revenue generated here was diverted to the units in Bangalore, Rae Bareli, Mangapur and Srinagar, which were in the red. This was done at the cost of the salaries of the employees here. But now other units are riding to recovery.
The ITI, established in 1947, is the first PSU in Independent India.
It was catering to the nation’s telecommunication requirements till the new telecom policy was rolled out in 1994. Then, the company was exposed to international competition.
Devoid of own technology and experience in international marketing, the ITI lost ground.
Published - May 06, 2016 12:00 am IST
