Telecom panel to discuss disinvestment in BSNL
The policy making arm of the telecom department — the Telecom Commission will meet on Wednesday to discuss the recommendations of the Sam Pitroda panel appointed by the Prime Minister, to divest 30 per cent stake in the PSU and voluntary retire around one lakh staff.
BSNL has been losing market share due to increased competition from the private players. It currently has a market share of 11.61 per cent in the mobile segment. The government has been looking at various options to improve BSNL's efficiency.
The Sam Pitroda committee had recommended scrapping of BSNL’s GSM lines tender and had said that the company should follow a lease arrangement for telecom equipment rather than buying the same.
This model has already been adopted by the private sector. It would reduce capital expenditure of BSNL besides reducing its problem of having shortage of young trained engineers in the latest technologies. It had said that to inmprove performance, the PSU should start a performance driven culture and complete IT absorption processes immediately.
The Pitroda committee had suggested splitting the post of chairman and managing director. It had asked for the creation of a separate subsidiary to hold the company’s underdeveloped land bank and other real estate assets. However, BSNL’s employee unions are against the implementation of the Pitroda recommendations and retirement of the staff.
Post new comment