(a) whether there was a work to rule strike by the BSNL and MTNL engineering staff recently;
(b) if so, the facts thereof;
(c) the details of the demands of these employees;
(d) the steps taken by the Government to mitigate their problems; and
(e) the losses suffered by the Government due to strike?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRIMATI SUMITRA MAHAJAN)
(a) Yes, Sir.
(b) The Executives Negotiating Council consisting of Telecom Engineering Officers Association (India), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Executive Association (India) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited Executives Association went on an indefinite work to rule agitation w.e.f. 23.10.02 for fulfillment of their demands.
(c) The details of their demands were: 1. IDA pay scales for executives in BSNL and MTNL. 2. Payment of Pension by Government for MTNL optees. 3. Benefit of IDA pay scale for officers retiring in the intervening period. 4. Pay scale and pay fixation for DEs(Adhoc). 5. No lateral entry at the level of JTO and above. 6. Time bound promotion and service weightage. 7. Cadre review for the cadres of JTOs & SDEs.
Gujarat Telecom Circle:
1. Following TAX routes were affected on 26.10.2002:
Am-Godra, Vadodara-New Delhi, Vadodara-Indore, Vadodara-Mehsana, Vadodara-Palanpur, Mehsana-Vadodara, Amreli-Bhuj, Am-Bangalore, Am-Bhopal, Am-Nasik, Rajkot-Agra, Rajkot-Cuttuck, Rajkot-Coimbatore, Rajkot-Patna, Rajakot-Hyderabad, Vadodara-Jodhpur, Vadodara-Lucknow, Vadodara-Am, Vadodara-Agra, Mehsana-Nasik, Mehsana-Godra, Mehsana-Anand, Mehsana-Himmatnagar, Mehsana-Surat.
2. Leased Circuits including circuits to press:
a) Circles to ISPs, Cellular Operators and leased lines were disturbed in the night. b) BSNL Cellular Mobile Services also disturbed Pune MSC not accessible.
3. Long distance transmission network.
(a) New Delhi one PCM failure.
(b) U.P.(West) Telecom circle : 42 Nos of PCM between NOIDA and Delhi faulty.
(c) Kerala Telecom Circle: Following TAX routes affected:
TVM-Bombay, GTPR, EKM-Bombay, EKM-Kolkata, EKM-Coimbatore, EKM-Chennai, EKM-Hyderabad, EKM-Baroda, EKM-Agra and Kollam-GDS.