GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 651
ANSWERED ON: 20.11.2019
Retrenchment of BSNL and MTNL Employees
Prataprao Govindrao Patil Chikhalikar
Will the Minister of
COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government proposes to merge the two public sector Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), BSNL and MTNL and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
(b) whether the Government proposes to retrench employees of these two TSPs and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
(c) whether the Government is aware that the number of BSNL subscribers is very less in comparison to other private sector TSPs and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND
ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) & (b) The Cabinet in its meeting held on 23.10.2019 approved the revival plan of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) which inter-alia, includes in-principle approval for merger of BSNL and MTNL and measures to reduce the staff cost by offering Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to the employees of age 50 years and above of BSNL and MTNL.
(c) BSNL has informed that as on 31.08.2019, market share of BSNL in landline and mobile services is 49.67% and 9.98% respectively. BSNL has further informed that the reason for less connections in comparison to other private Telecom Service Providers is due to not having separate spectrum for 4G services. The Cabinet in its meeting held on 23.10.2019 approved administrative allotment of spectrum to BSNL for providing 4G services through capital infusion by the Government.
