Employees of state-owned telecom giant BSNL staged a protest on Monday, opposing the government’s decision to take over their 81-acre training centre in Ghaziabad. The All Unions and Associations of BSNL (AUAB) called the strike, accusing the Department of Telecom (DoT) of making a “unilateral” decision that would harm BSNL’s skill development efforts nationwide.
The protest stems from a Presidential order issued on November 10, 2023, directing the transfer of the Advanced Level Telecom Training Centre (ALTTC) in Ghaziabad, including its buildings and infrastructure, to the National Telecommunication Institute for Policy, Research, Innovation and Training (NTIPRIT).
The order further instructs BSNL to hand over the ALTTC campus to NTIPRIT by December 17, 2023. AUAB convenor Puttaswamy and President Nagendra strongly condemned this move, stating that it could derail BSNL’s 4G/5G skill development initiatives and hinder the timely rollout of 4G services. They expressed concern that BSNL, already facing fierce competition from private players like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, would be further disadvantaged by this decision.
The AUAB highlighted that the BSNL training centre recently established a 4G laboratory to train officers specifically for the 4G rollout, aligning with the country’s self-reliance goals. They also accused the DoT of “forcefully, illegally, unethically, and unilaterally” taking over BSNL’s assets worth ₹6,000 crores at the ALTTC, without any benefit to BSNL.
The AUAB urged the government and DoT to withdraw the takeover order and threatened to escalate their agitation if their demands are not met.
