BSNL Workers and Engineers to go on Strike from Today

New Delhi: Over 1.5 lakh non-executive employees of the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have gone on a two-day strike from midnight today, demanding higher wage and an immediate pay revision. Similarly, over 10,000 BSNL Engineers have gone on an indefinite strike. They are demanding the absorption of officers who were deputed from DoT.

Telephone and Broadband Internet services across the country are likely to be hit because of the strike. Although the BSNL has set up a control room for managing the system during the strike, it may not be enough to provide services to the millions of customers in India due to the non-availability of the staff.

The BSNL workers will end their strike in the noon on August 20. However, the Engineers will continue the strike until their demands are met. It was confirmed by the All India Graduate Telecom Officers Association (AIGETOA) of Engineers.

The non-executive workers of the BSNL are demanding a better pay and implementation of the promotion policy. The BSNL had offered 30 percent hike for the workers, while the higher officials received a pay hike of 60-70 percent. The BSNL union has also demanded an increase in fitment which was fixed at 78.2 percent by the government.