INDIAN TELECOM SERVICE ASSOCIATION

B-804, STATESMAN HOUSE, BARAKHAMBA ROAD, NEW DELHI – 110 001

Website : www.itsa.org.in Telephone No : +91 11 2332 5367

E-mail : itsa@yahoogroups.com Fax No. : +91 11 2335 8924

S.S. Sirohi S.C. Sharma

President General Secretary
Mobile- 9868130000 Mobile -9868217054

PRESS RELEASE

We are an Association of Group 'A' officers of Indian Telecom service (ITS)

representing about 2000 officers, who are engineering graduates and are directly
recruited by UPSC. ITS Cadre was created by the Govt. of India for the purpose of
policy formulation, operation and development of telecom services. We are manning
various positions (in JTS to HAG grades) in DOT, TEC, BSNL, TRAI, MTNL etc. We
are posted in BSNL and MTNL on deemed deputation.

2. Telecommunication being a very highly technical and professional sector,

requires handling by professionally qualified and experienced personnel. ITS
officers, meant to perform such jobs, are systematically being marginalized in
Department of Telecom by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to gain control
of this important and high growth sector. This is a typical case of generalists trying to
unduly dominate the professionals and take away their career growth opportunities.
This action is neither in the national interest nor good for the morale of qualified
technocrats.

3. These highly capable and specialized officers are successfully manning their
parent department i.e. DoT contributing to consistent and spectacular growth in
telecom PSUs, with their indisputable commitment. Ironically, Department of
Telecommunications (DOT) now wants to force ITS officers to get absorbed in
BSNL/ MTNL on terms and conditions which are non-transparent and putting the
career of the officers at stake in addition to causing perpetual loss in emoluments.
Our officers are being intimidated so that they submit to the dictates of bureaucrats
in DOT.

4. DOT has now embarked upon a plan to shift all the 2200 ITS officers to
surplus cell and bring in non-experienced deputationists from other ministries
including from Armed Forces to run BSNL/ MTNL. It is trying to create a non-existent
contingency and then act on a contingency plan. BSNL Board is understood to have
already written to DOT that without the Group 'A' officers, system will collapse. But
DOT is going very fast on the proposal and it is forcing BSNL/ MTNL to work out a
contingency plan.

5. DOT is trying to challenge the very basis on which this Group 'A' Central Civil
Service was created by the government. It wants to run the organizations by
throwing out its own people and calling outsiders or through certain group of officers
including the retired ones, who naturally do not have a broader perspective and
engineering skills to replace the vision, experience and skills of Group 'A' officers.

6. This step of DOT is bound to ruin both the PSUs who are facing stiff
competition and still earning good profits. Making the PSUs sick will only benefit the
private operators. The telecom development in rural India is bound to suffer.

(S. C. Sharma)
General Secretary

Encl: A note on the sequence of events and role of DOT

 Annexure

Sequence of events and role of DOT

• Indian Telecom Service (ITS) Group 'A' officers with Engineering background
from leading engineering institutions are recruited by UPSC through All India
competitive examinations for manning government departments and telecom
PSUs like DOT, BSNL, MTNL etc. since their inception in year 1947, 1986
and 2000 respectively.

• ITS are the only richest pool of highly qualified, talented, trained and
experienced professional teleom officers in the government. Continuance of
this service is absolutely relevant and highly crucial at the present stage of
telecom development in the country.

• At the time of formation of BSNL on 01/10/2000, the Cabinet had permitted

deemed deputation for Group 'A' officers for five years. It is expiring on
30/09/2005.

• DOT has offered terms and conditions for absorption in BSNL/ MTNL with
option to remain in government service.

• Terms and conditions are ambiguous and the officers have asked for
clarifications. DOT replies have added to the ambiguities and contradictions.
The officers are still waiting for clarity on various critical issues.

• DOT dominated by IAS beaurocracy is now adopting coercive measures. It

has sent officers from the Ministry to the field to intimidate Group 'A' officers
of dire consequences including loss of job etc. if they do not get absorbed.

• For quite some time past DOT has blocked promotions of officers and filling
up of vacancies and has started abolishing posts as an arm twisting measure.

• In a bid to exterminate the ITS cadre, DOT is now finalizing a "Tughlaki" plan
to withdraw all ITS officers numbering about 2000 from BSNL, MTNL, TCIL,
TEC, DOT, TRAI, TDSAT and send them to surplus cell. These are the only
people responsible for planning, development, operation and management of
these PSUs and man all positions ranging from lower middle to top
management levels. This is like withdrawing the whole chain of command and
operations from Lt. General to Lt. from army and ask the other ranks to fight
the battle. This is also akin to withdrawal of complete administrative hierarchy
from Secretary to OM and then run the administration.

• BSNL Board keeping in view the complexity of network and its strategic
importance has written to DOT that the system will collapse if any such action
is taken.
• But DOT is forcing BSNL/ MTNL to work out a contingency plan without taking
measures to avoid the contingent situation, which DOT is bent upon to create
for the reasons mentioned above.

• Strategic telecom network of government including defence and on line

business networks of banks, oil sector, airlines, IT companies etc. are working
on BSNL/ MTNL infrastructure. Proposed action of DOT will adversely affect
the operation of forces and also the economic activity.

• BSNL/ MTNL who are now competing so well in the market will loose their
market share as not only the operation will be severely affected, all
development activities will virtually come to a halt.

• All the officers are working wherever they are and there is no situation of
strike or agitation. But certainly alive to their careers, ITS officers all over the
country have rejected the DOT's inadequate shortsighted proposals on
absorption, which are ambiguous, contradictory and fail to protect their service
conditions.

• DOT needs to be urgently restrained from taking a suicidal step, which is

likely to be taken in next few days as indicated by recent utterances of the
Minister and Secretary (T).