BSNL aghast at 'apathy' shown by government

Public sector telecom services provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is complaining of being neglected by the government, amid serious concerns over its operational efficiency.

The bone of contention, according to the highly placed sources, is the appointment of the new chairman and managing director of the telco. "The minister has been talking about giving all the possible support to us. However, when it comes to the application of it, they haven't been able to even appoint a CMD for us," a highly placed sources within BSNL told DH.

The government, on its part, adopted a temporary solution, by giving additional charge of BSNL to the MTNL chief P K Purwar. "We can't operate properly with an interim chief. They have delayed the appointment of directors as well for us," a source within the company said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led central government, on its part, blamed dilemma over succession planning for the delay in the appointment.

"The government will soon appoint full-time CMD to the state-run telecom firm. Since the government is also working on to revive the telecom firm, the government is still thinking whether to elevate the existing seniormost officer of the BSNL as CMD or bring the external talent," the sources within telecom ministry told DH.

There is also a suggestion from a section in the government to bring external talent to infuse fresh energy to the crisis-hit company.

Outgoing CMD of BSNL Anupam Shrivastava attained superannuation on June 30, 2019, and BSNL was looking forward to the appointment of new CMD in hope of revival for the telco.

Earlier there was speculation that MTNL CMD P K Purwar will be made BSNL CMD but now the government has given him an additional charge for the period of three months.

Sustaining operations has become a tough task for the firm, as BSNL has been grappling with the increasing losses.