BSNL Contract Workers Denied Salary For 7 Months

Functionaries of the Tamil Nadu Telecom Contract Workers’ Union (TNTCWU) and BSNLEmployees Union (BSNLEU) alleged that the contract workers employed by BSNL were not paid salary for the past seven months, and that it would amount to around Rs 40 crore in the state alone.

Speaking in a press meet on Thursday, S Shanmugasundaram, the district secretary of TNTCWU, said, more than 1 lakh contract workers were associated with BSNL across the country who carry out sanitary works, laying and joining underground optic cables and operating system. Of them, more than 6000 people have been employed in Tamil Nadu alone, he added.

Earlier salaries were dispensed by the contractors in district levels, but now, BSNL has taken up the responsibility. Despite continuous representations, the contract workers have not been paid since January, he said.

Since arrival of one of the biggest mobile network provider, BSNL was under heavy stress. The administration has stopped dispensing salaries for permanent employees, and has also reduced the age limit for retirement, the secretary said. “Now the contract workers are also facing the heat. Five contract workers have committed suicide due to delay in giving the salaries,” he claimed.

“While few private mobile network providers are facing a debt of more than Rs 1 lakh crore, BSNL has only debt of Rs 20,000 crore. So, the problems can be fixed by taking steps including reducing unnecessary expenditures. At the same time, it is not acceptable that the contractor workers are left to suffer,” he added.―Times of India