KOLKATA: State-run
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd
(BSNL) plans to sharply scale down the manpower strength of its
beleaguered landline business, which accounts for nearly 65% of its 2.77
lakh-strong workforce, in one of the boldest moves to transform the
loss-making telco into a nimble, profit-making organisation.
"Poor revenues coupled with a steep reduction in the number of landline
connections over the past three years from some 34 million to under 25
million has made a sizeable number of positions and functions in the
consumer fixed access
(CFA) division redundant. A review of the manpower requirement is
underway, but we are yet to take a call on which positions to retain and
which to abolish," a top company executive with direct knowledge of the
development told ET.
At present,
BSNL
is doing an internal assessment of whether its loss-making landline
business justifies the existence of innumerable phone mechanics,
telecom
technical assistants, regular mazdoors and junior telecom officers who
collectively number more than a whopping 1.5 lakh on its rolls.
The number of staff functions in the
CFA
business is directly linked to the number of active landlines. But the
growing instances of people surrendering their landlines has induced
BSNL's senior management to consider outsourcing a host of activities,
including operations & maintenance.
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