BSNL Employees Revolt Against Jio’s Cheap Plans; Announce Massive Strike On December 3rd
BSNL Employee unions have alleged that PM Modi is helping Jio to conquer the telecom market.
Update As On December 3rd: BSNL employees have now deferred their strike to December 10th. More details are awaited.
Earlier…
In a strange twist of events, BSNL employees have decided to revolt against Reliance Jio’s cheap plans, and conduct a massive strike all over India on December 3rd.
These employees have grouped under Unions, and are protesting ‘predatory prices’ of Reliance Jio, because of which ‘whole telecom industry is gripped with a crisis’.
What is their problem?
Keep reading to find out more..
BSNL Unions Strike Against Jio
All Unions and Associations of BSNL (AUAB), which an umbrella Union encompassing thousands of BSNL employees, have alleged that PM Modi led present Govt. is, directly and indirectly, helping Jio to conquer market share.
They have alleged that Jio will wipe away all competitors, including BSNL, and then start charging higher rates from users, as part of the monopoly.
In a joint statement, as reported by PTI, the Union said, “As of now, the whole telecom industry is gripped with a crisis…All these have happened due to the predatory pricing of the Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Jio. The whole game plane of Reliance Jio is to wipe out its competitors, which includes the state-owned BSNL,”
BSNL Is Not Getting 4G Because of Jio?
As per a conspiracy theory put forth by the Union of BSNL employees, Govt. of India is intentionally not allocating 4G spectrum to BSNL, so that Jio can flourish and capture more market share.
The Union said that “the government has turned a deaf ear to this demand (4G), with the ulterior motive of preventing the public sector company from putting up an effective competition to Reliance Jio”.
As per the Union, BSNL employees worked hard, ensured that the company posts a profit of Rs 672.57 crore in 2014-15, after getting into a debt of Rs 8,800 crore in 2011-12. And this turn-around has happened without 4G, only using 2G and 3G as the foundation. But despite such hard work, BSNL is being ignored by Govt. to help Jio.
As per the Union, if Jio is not ‘controlled’ now, then they will ‘loot the customers’ later.
The statement said, “It (Jio) will loot the people by steeply raising the call and data charges. It is a matter of deep concern that, Reliance Jio is being openly patronised by the Narendra Modi government,”
Besides the issue of Jio’s cheap plans, and 4G spectrum, the massive strike by BSNL employees has these demands as well:
- Immediate allotment of 4G spectrum to BSNL for rolling out its 4G service.
- Implementation of the government rule in respect of payment of pension contribution by BSNL.
- Wage revision of the employees.
- Pension revision of the retirees from January 1, 2017.
There has been no reaction from PM Modi and Jio on this matter. We will keep you updated, as more details come in.
