‘Centre must end BSNL staffers’ strike’

In a statement, Balakrishnan said, “The Central government had allotted 4G spectrum to private companies such as Jio, Airtel and Vodafone three years before. But it did not allot the same to its own public sector company, BSNL, which only shows that the PM is favouring private companies.”

The BSNL employees started their protest on Tuesday, putting forth a host of demands, including protecting the public firm from private companies, allotment of 4G spectrum, granting permission to obtain loan from public sector banks, to restructure the pay scale which was not revised for 12 years and to increase their salary.

Balakrishnan demanded the Centre to save the public utility firm and take steps to end the strike by implementing their demands. While the BSNL with an aim to expand its network is demanding the Centre to give permission to obtain loans from banks, private companies are able to obtain loans for their expansion plans and are attracting more customers, he said.