The Employee Union (EU) of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is worried about the merger with MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited). In fact, this is not the first time that the employees of the state-run telco have expressed their concern over the BSNL and MTNL merger. In 2022 as well, the EU of the telco had said that given the position BSNL is in, it wouldn't be able to take the load of debt and problems of MTNL. Thus for the employees, a merger of the two companies is not a viable option.
The employees said that they are important stakeholders in the company, but the government has kept the union and associations in the dark about the merger of BSNL and MTNL. The decision to merge the two state-run telecom PSUs (public sector units) was taken by the Union Cabinet on July 27, 2022.
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Fear of Disinvestment in BSNL
In a letter seen by TelecomTalk to the telecom secretary K Rajaraman and CMD (chairman and managing director) of BSNL, P.K. Purwar, the employee union wrote that because MTNL is a listed company while BSNL is a 100% govt owned company, the merger could be a backdoor method to start disinvestment in BSNL. The union has demanded that MTNL should be delisted before it is merged with MTNL.
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The Merger Could be the End of the Road for BSNL
In the letter, the union said that as per media reports, they have come to know that MTNL has a debt of Rs 30,000 crore. The union feels that because BSNL's situation is already very fragile, the financial stress that MTNL would bring for the company could be the end of the road for BSNL.
The union said, "we strongly demand that, the financial liability of Rs 30,000 crore should be taken over by the government, before MTNL is merged with BSNL."
MTNL's Networks Would Take Too Much Money to be Restored
The employee union also said that MTNL's networks, including FTTH, landline, mobile, etc., both in Delhi and Mumbai, are in "tatters" and would require a huge amount of money to be restored. BSNL doesn't have the kind of money that would be required for the restoration of MTNL's networks, and thus the union has demanded that the govt should provide sufficient financial assistance to BSNL.
