The Government has now appointed a Group of Ministers (GoM) with Finance Minister P.Chidambaram as Chairman for ‘Revival of BSNL &  MTNL’. Other members of the committee are Dy. Chairman Planning Commission Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal,  Commerce & Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, Minister for Information % Broadcasting Manish Tiwari and Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension  V.Narayanasamy.  The constitution with these heavy weight ministers shows that high priority has been given to the issue.

Of course, telecom has always been an important sector for the government. Hence it was always under the direct control of the government as a Department, first P&T and later Department of Telecommunications. The Cabinet Ministers who looked after the Ministry include celebrities like Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Jagjivan Ram, I.K.Gujral,  C.M.Stephen, Shankar Dayal Sharma, Sushama Swaraj  and others. The growth of telecom infrastructure and services have always been a priority with the government, since it is closely connected with the growth of the country itself.

But that priority given earlier has been changed now, after the introduction of the neo-liberal policy for the last two decades. Now the priority is to allow the private players to maximise their profits at the cost of the PSU telecom companies and the country. The naked support to the MNCs and private companies can be seen in each and every decision taken by the government and the discrimination against BSNL & MTNL.

Hence the priority for the GoM on Revival of BSNL & MTNL will naturally focus on further growth of the private companies. The GoM is certain to be in favour of disinvestment and VRS both of which BSNL Employees Union and the Forum have been able to stop through united struggles. It may also decide some insignificant support to BSNL & MTNL with harsh conditions.

The workers can not allow such decisions which will gradually  put a lid on the existence of BSNL, as the government has now decided in the case of telegram services by deciding to close the same unceremoniously  by 15^th July 2013.

It is why the Forum has given a detailed Memorandum to the GoM with effective and practical suggestions, which if implemented, will completely change the present scenario and will strengthen BSNL and ensure a better service. The Forum has also decided to organise programmes including an All India Convention at Delhi for wide publicity for our demands and support from the people. The workers have to come forward to implement the programmes and restore the great tradition of the Telecom services in the past.