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MTNL staffers cease being government employees

The 13-year-long deemed deputation status of 64,000 employees of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited ended with an agreement signed between the management and staff unions recently.

This has ended the trishanku status of most MTNL employees who were government servants on deputation to the corporation. The situation had led to several operational problems.

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The decision was taken by the government on November 1 and was agreed upon by the unions, including the MTNL Staff Union this week, union chief Swarup Singh said.

However, most officers remain government servants on deputation from the Department of Telecommunications.

But MTNL Chairman and Managing Director S Rajagopalan hopes to set a trend by sending in his resignation to the government and requesting that he be absorbed as an MTNL employee.

"The 13-year problem with respect to Group 'C' and 'D' employees has been resolved. Now, in all fairness, we should be calling for options from the officers within a month," Rajagopalan said.

While admitting that the staffers to telephones ratio of 19:1,000 is large when compared to figures for developed countries, he claimed that "It was found that the human effort required to maintain external plants despite shift to electronic exchanges in Bombay and Delhi has remained the same."

"The last mile (to the customer's premises from the junction box) and the first mile demands a lot of effort," he pleaded.

At the same time, he admits, there is still scope for reduction of the workforce. Buy quickly assures "There will be no coercion to reduce the workforce because the management has promised the staff of security in service while persuading it to terminate the deemed deputation status and accept permanent absorption.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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