BSNL board meet skips disinvestment issue
Wednesday, 27 August 2008, 19:30 IST
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New Delhi: The board of the state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), which met here Wednesday, did not discuss the contentious proposal to raise money through disinvestment, as the company is still trying to convince trade unions to agree to an equity offload. "The board could not take up the issue today as the talks with the unions were inconclusive and will continue this week as well," a senior BSNL official told reporters after the meeting. The decision to disinvest has brought the management in direct conflict with employees' unions, which have threatened to strike work. "We will go on a token strike, but if the government goes ahead with its decision to disinvest, we will go on an indefinite strike," BSNL employees union general secretary V.A.N. Namboodri had told IANS Monday. According to him, BSNL does not need to raise money from the primary market. The union has conveyed its opposition to disinvestment in submissions made to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Telecom Minister A. Raja, Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura and the BSNL management. "We have been assured by the telecom minister that the government will not proceed without the trade union's consent," Namboodri said.
Source: IANS
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