Aurangabad, Nov 26:
BSNL officers and employees today threatened of going on an indefinite strike if the union government does not introduce 4G services in the country, soon. The daylong general strike was observed to press their long-pending demands, including withdrawal of privatisations of public sector undertakings.
Various unions including BSNL Employees union (BSNLEU), National Federation of Telecom Employees (NFTE), Sanchar Nigam Association of Telecom Technical Assistants (SNATTA) etc. took part in the strike which evoked 100 per cent response. The strike-goers also formed a human chain from Maharaj Agrasen Chowk to Cidco Bus Stand Chowk as a part of the agitation. The women employees also took part in the strike. All the staff from various BSNL offices and customer service centres (CSCs) were in the strike today.
The agitators held a gate meeting at Sanchar Sadan. At the outset, they offered a tribute to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on the occasion of the Indian Constitution Day. The tribute was also offered to the persons who lost their lives in the terror attack, which held on November 26, in Mumbai.
Ranjan Dani, John Verghese and Chinmay Satarkar addressed the meeting. They underlined that the BSNL provided uninterrupted services during Covid-19 pandemic situation, but the staff deprived of insurance, special leave or cashless treatment facilities. Instead, their dearness allowance got affected.
The disappointed agitators stressed that if the government does not changes its policies towards BSNL, then the staff would come on the road for an indefinite period. B M Sanap proposed a vote of thanks. R R Waghmare, R P Joshi, S V Gaikwad and other office-bearers were also present on occasion.