I have been associated with BSNL for
over a quarter century now. In the past, I used to be in awe of the tall
buildings at BSNL Bhavan, Chuttugunta (Vijayawada) and the huge crowds that
packed those buildings as well as the lawns. My work was almost always at
Finance which is housed in a separate building behind the GM’s office.
It was 11.30 in the morning. I dropped by Finance on my way home
from the government treasury which I had visited to submit a digital life
certificate for this year. Finance had owed me
some money for over six months. They were supposed to transfer it to my bank
account, but since that hadn’t happened, I thought meeting the accounts officer
might help.
I entered Finance only to see dozens of
vacant cabins. There were only three employees in the entire office on the
ground floor. Two of them must have been attendants; they were chatting at the
entrance. The third one, a young man, was at a table with a computer in front
of him.
‘Where are the others?’ I asked him
after explaining the purpose of my visit.
‘They’ve taken VRS,’ he said turning his
computer on.
‘Voluntary retirement? So many of them?’
‘Yes. They didn’t want to be on a
sinking ship any longer. When an option was given, they got off.’
‘How, then, will work get done here?’
He shrugged it off and smiled. ‘There is
no money. We haven’t got our salaries for months together.’ He kept searching
for my claim on the computer. I didn’t want to disturb him.
‘Sir, your payment was approved six
months ago,’ he said lifting his head.
‘I know that,’ I said. ‘I came to
collect the money.’
‘You must be joking, sir,’ he said with
a nervous laugh. ‘There’s no money. Since 2018, we haven’t cleared any debts.
Even if money comes in May or June, the 2018 cases will take priority. Yours is
a mid-2019 one.’
‘Which means I should be prepared to
write it off?’ I said. ‘But tell me, are you heading for a shutdown? I think
the budget said something about funding BSNL and MTNL.’ He shrugged his
shoulders as if to say he didn’t know what the hell was going on.
Time was when BSNL was a monopoly with
profits over 10,000 crore a year. Now it seems to be on its last gasp. Poor
management, overstaffing, hopeless services, delayed modernization, and
inability to cope with competition – that’s the story on BSNL.
