NEW DELHI: Babus and public sector executives may have to surrender phones and broadband connections from private operators such as Airtel and Vodafone and shift to the networks of state-owned MTNL and BSNL as part of the government's plan to improve the finances of the two PSUs.
The proposal envisages shifting the entire telephone expenses paid by the central government — mobile phone, landline, broadband and enterprise bills — to the state-run telcos and give exclusive rights to them. A similar model is followed for ailing Air India, which continues to bleed despite government officers, PSU executives and those working for autonomous bodies funded by the Centre flying the national carrier. "They may be making losses, but MTNL and BSNL are public assets. We are working on this proposal as part of measures to support their revival," said a government official, defending the plan.
MTNL, which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, has been accumulating losses since 2008-09. In 2012-13, the company registered a loss of over Rs 5,300 crore on annual revenue of a little under Rs 3,500 crore. The losses for BSNL, as per unaudited results, were close to Rs 8,200 crore in 2012-13, compared to around Rs 8,850 crore in 2011-12. BSNL has been in the red since 2009-10. "The basic idea is to ensure that whatever money is spent by the government on telecom usage, it goes to BSNL and MTNL," a senior BSNL executive said.
courtesy: TOI
