BSNL goes on strike but services remain normal

Employees of state-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) went on strike Wednesday asking the government to place equipment orders for the expansion of its mobile services.

'A section of employees have gone on strike just for one day. But this has not disrupted any of our services. All our exchanges are running normally without any disruption,' BSNL chairman and managing director A.K. Sinha told IANS.

'We are negotiating with them and I am sure we will sort this out by today,' he added.

According to industry sources, the employees went on strike for not being able conclude discussions with the new telecom minister A. Raja and the department of telecommunications (DoT) about the placing of contracts with regard to laying 45.5 million GSM lines to selected vendors.

The employees were not satisfied with the reply they got from the DoT, the sources said.

The union is expected to meet the minister and senior officials from BSNL and DoT Wednesday.