All Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) officials wanting to return to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have been reportedly directed to join DoT?s technical wing.
BSNL has nearly 1,600 Indian Telecom Service Officers (ITS) who were deputed to it nearly 11 years ago when the operator was spun off as a separate corporate entity from DoT.
Prior to this, DoT had set November 4, 2011, as the deadline for these officers to decide whether to stay at BSNL or move back to DoT.
This is part of BSNL?s internal restructuring roadmap. BSNL is reportedly planning to scale down the manpower of its landline business, which accounts for nearly 65 per cent of its overall workforce.
Currently, the operator is assessing whether its loss-making landline business justifies retaining staff such as phone mechanics, telecom technical assistants, junior telecom officers, etc.
The number of staff functions in the consumer fixed access business is directly linked to the number of active landlines. However, keeping in mind that most users have surrendered their landlines, BSNL’s senior management is considering outsourcing several activities, including operations and maintenance.
