Message of Shri G.L. Jogi, General Secretary, Sanchar Nigam Pensioners’ Welfare Association (SNPWA)
Unsung Warriors Behind BSNL’s 4G Milestone
On the eve of BSNL’s long-awaited launch of 4G services, the nation proudly looks forward to a new era of digital empowerment. This milestone, however, is not the gift of policy makers but the hard-earned result of the extraordinary perseverance, unflinching commitment, and unmatched resilience of BSNL’s employees — true comrades who stood firm when everything seemed designed to ensure the opposite.
For years, roadblocks, policy hurdles, and calculated obstructions were placed to stifle BSNL’s growth. Successive measures ensured that the organization was denied a level playing field — spectrum allocation was delayed, equipment procurement was blocked, tenders were cancelled under pressure from vested interests, and the company was denied financial autonomy at crucial junctures. The message was clear: BSNL should not rise.
Yet, against this backdrop of hostility, BSNL’s employees refused to surrender.
With courage that cannot be quantified in monetary terms, they worked day and night, often under conditions of uncertainty, without modern infrastructure, without adequate manpower, and most painfully, without receiving the legitimate pay revision under the 3rd PRC that was rightfully theirs.
It is this grit, sacrifice, and relentless spirit that carried BSNL across the storm and brought the organization to the doorstep of 4G — a service that will finally allow the company to serve the people of India with speed, efficiency, and reliability.
And yet, while the nation celebrates, the Government chooses to remain insensitive and ungrateful.
By denying the 3rd PRC benefits, it has belittled and demeaned the very workforce whose blood, sweat, and spirit have made this achievement possible. This is nothing short of a grave injustice — an affront to every BSNL worker who sacrificed not just comforts but also their financial and professional dignity for the survival of this national asset.
The paradox is painful: the Government celebrates BSNL’s milestone but disowns the employees who created it.
While the launch of 4G is a matter of pride, it is equally a moment of anguish — for what good is a milestone if those who built it are denied their rightful due?
History will record that BSNL rose not because of, but in spite of, the Government.
It rose because of its people — the true architects of this national telecom giant. If justice is to be served, the Government must immediately shed its arrogance and extend the 3rd PRC benefits to BSNL employees and pensioners, acknowledging their role not as mere workers, but as the saviours and custodians of BSNL’s very existence.
The nation owes them gratitude. The Government owes them justice.
G.L. Jogi
GS/SNPWA