The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) at the 21st Triennial Conference of BMS at Puri, Odisha on 6th to 8th Feb 2026 unanimously adopted the resolutions concerning long-pending and critical service-related issues of the employees of BSNL and MTNL.

Click here for the Resolutions Approved

The Conference deliberated extensively on the challenges being faced by serving and retired employees of BSNL and MTNL, who have contributed immensely to nation building and to achieving the telecom objectives of the Government, often under adverse and constrained circumstances. After detailed discussion, the Conference adopted the resolution that BMS shall take all necessary steps, including organizational and trade union actions for resolution of the following long pending issues pertaining to BSNL:

1] Resolution on Implementation of 3rd PRC and Pension Revision in BSNL and MTNL.

2] Resolution on Implementation of 30% Superannuation Benefit for Direct Recruits of BSNL

3] Resolution on Implementation of Standard Pay Scales (E2 and E3) and Pay Loss issues for BSNL Executives and Proper Pay Scale for JE grade in BSNL.

4] Resolution on Extending Promotional Avenues for BSNL Executives.

5] Resolution on “One Company – One Policy” for All Employees of BSNL.

6] Resolution on appointment of a regular CMD for BSNL/MTNL.

7] Resolution on Scrapping of SET Recruitment and All Lateral Entry Above JTO/JAO Level in BSNL

8] Resolution on implementation of Old Pension Scheme for the employees whose recruitment process was initiated by DoT prior to formation of BSNL.

9] Resolution on removing the freeze on the Compassionate Ground Appointments (CGA) for BSNL.

The above resolutions shall be officially submitted to the Government of India through Ministry of Labour and Employment. AIGETOA, BTEU, BDPS remains extremely thankful to Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh who have taken our issues to the next level with their firm and timely resolutions in this regard.

Dear Friends,

We once again emphasize that AIGETOA, BTEU and BDPS who are affiliates under the umbrella of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh along with other associations/unions who have come in support by forming Bharatiya Doorsanchar Manch are fully determined to ensure the resolution of the long pending HR issues of BSNL as well as the viability issues plaguing the revival and survival of BSNL/MTNL. We request one and all to support us in our endeavours.

Together We will Achieve Everything.

In the Interest of Nation, In the Interest of BSNL, In the Interest of Employees of BSNL

Standing Firmly and Solidly

Team AIGETOA, BTEU BSNL and BDPS

Just now GS AIGETOA and AGS II AIGETOA met Director HR and PGM (Pers)/SR . It is decided to defer the SET Recruitment process. Recruitment Cell of BSNL CO has been directed to process the case. Secondly the proposal submitted for promotions is also being examined and the Pers and Legal cell is working on the proposal.

Finally our perseverance has paid and a major cause of concern has been taken care of. Team AIGETOA is consistently monitoring the situation on this issue as well as on other HR issues..

All the members and executives are requested to exercise patience and concentrate on their day to day activities.

Today, 4th February 2026, the AIGETOA team continued discussions with the BSNL management on the ongoing issue of stoppage of SET Recruitment Process. The discussion was held in continuation of Last Two Day’s meeting and today much ice has melted with management agreeing to take a thorough review on the issue tomorrow with the HR team vis-à-vis the concerns raised by BDM. Management side assured us that they are looking into the matter and advised us to exercise restraint. We requested for an immediate action on stopping the process.

As there has been references to the DoT and higher offices on this issue during discussions with management, Team AIGETOA consisting of General Secretary, All India President and AGS-II today visited office of Additional Secretary (Telecom) to apprise him of this situation. As per the directions thereof, we met DDG(C&A) and apprised him of the situation and the prevailing unrest. We said when at this juncture, when the focus should have been on increasing the revenue, this action of SET Recruitment by BSNL has resulted into a huge turbulent situation where each and every executive of BSNL is feeling humiliated. We also apprised him about the current situation of executives and the experience and qualification profile of the executives along with remaining years of service. We also apprised him about the stagnation faced by the executives. We said, if this recruitment happens, it will demoralise the cadre like anything and will result into huge unrest in the rank and file of BSNL. He assured to take up the matter immediately with BSNL. On the sidelines, we also discussed about the submission of AIGETOA with respect to extending the promotions to all eligible.

A very important discussion with respect of resolution of issue of extending the standard pay scales of E2 to JTO/JAO equivalent and E3 to SDE/AO equivalent was also held. As informed earlier subsequent to our meeting with Hon’ble MoC and MoSC, the issue has moved again. We can definitely expect some positive movement now. Discussion was held on increasing the SAB Contribution also. On the important issue of 3rd PRC, it was informed that DoT has sought some inputs from BSNL and told us to follow with BSNL for expediting the inputs. We shall be following the same with BSNL also.

Thereafter, AIGETOA Team met PS to Hon’ble MOC, as per the instructions given earlier during our meeting with Hon’ble MoC and held the discussion on the following points:

1] Stopping of SET recruitment immediately and issuing promotions to all eligible executives:

We elaborately explained this issue. We informed that management is making recruitment of freshers with same qualification at two level of entry which is in complete contravention to the prevalent norms of any PSU. BSNL is having executives with domain experience ranging from 8 to 30 years but BSNL management is ignoring internal talent. Situation is so worse that even the GATE-qualified JTOs with 99-95 percentile with same educational qualification and similarly JAOs with same qualification and much greater experience are being ignored and management is trying to induct freshers at a higher level with no standard examination in place. We requested for his urgent intervention and requested to prevail upon BSNL Management to ensure that internal executives are given sufficient career progression opportunities and immediate promotions to the next grade for all the eligible executives. We also explained the promotion issues and the need of the hour to issue promotion orders to all eligible executives to encourage them to increase revenues and morale of employees. It was assured that necessary intervention is being done and BSNL has been asked to give the inputs.

2] 3rd PRC issue:

We discussed this issue at length and explained that proposal for revision of the pay and implementation of 3rd PRC with 15% fitment was sent with full BSNL Board approval when BSNL was in complete loss and revenue position was in a worse precarious state. We highlighted that BSNL has come far off from that position and today the revenue is much better with increasing operational profit Year on Year basis. Hence its time that BSNL employees should be extended the 3rd PRC. We also told that affordability waiver for BSNL is a rightful demand by us given the circumstances in which BSNL is placed. We emphasised that the swadeshi Technology being in a developing stage there are definite issues in the network coverage and till the network becomes stable and at par with private operators, it’s very difficult to increase the revenue. Further, there is huge infusion of capital in BSNL which results into depreciation reflecting negatively in the Balance Sheet of BSNL, and hence coming into absolute profit is very difficult as on date till the network is developed fully. Employees of BSNL should not face the brunt of doing selfless service to the nation and hence the 3rd PRC must be extended now to them. It was informed that the issue is under consideration and inputs have been sought from BSNL. However, it is our categorical opinion that the issue of affordability waiver requires much higher intervention and AIGETOA and BDM team is taking all efforts to reach to the highest echelons. With our perseverance and firm support of the employees, we are very sure that this issue is definitely going to be resolved.

3] E2 & E3 standard pay scale implementation in BSNL:

We explained this issue which is pending since the inception of BSNL and discussed the solution along with the BSNL board approvals and also submitted all the relevant supporting documents. We received a positive response regarding our concerns.

4] Increasing the SAB contribution:

We discussed this issue and explained the provision of the separate pension scheme for BSNL Recruits in the Rule 37A orders during formation of BSNL which was never implemented in BSNL. We also explained the state of affairs and the perilous situation of BSNL Recruits in case some untimely demise occurs to the sole bread winner of the family. We requested for the kind intervention with BSNL for increasing the SAB Contribution.

4] BSNL viability issues:

Issues related to BSNL viability and the practical problems being faced by the employees in increasing the revenue and market share was also explained. We were assured of necessary support and intervention in setting the issues.

In the evening, AIGETOA team again met BSNL management and continued the discussions on stopping the SET recruitment and issuing promotions to all eligible executives. Finally at the end, there was a categorical assurance by the management to revisit the SET recruitment process and we were told that tomorrow HR team will meet on the way out to address the concerns raised and to have a revisit on the decision to continue with the recruitment.

Dear friends, with today’s pursuance at different levels, we have definitely witnessed a change in the stand of management and the earlier reluctance with respect to stopping the process has now changed and we expect a positive outcome. We remain receptible to the best and prepared for the worst. We will keep one and all about the developments and would like to firmly reassure all that no stone will be left unturned to ensure that this SET Recruitment is stopped at all costs.

Together We will Achieve Everything.

In continuation of the discussions held with BSNL management yesterday, another meeting was held today on 3rd Feb 2026. The meeting was attended by Director (HR), PGM (Legal), PGM (Pers) and PGM (Recruitment) from the management side, and GS, AIP and AGS-II from the AIGETOA side.

The meeting lasted for nearly one and a half hours. However, the management’s stand on proceeding with the SET Recruitment remained unchanged. On the issue of extending promotions to all executives to bring them at par with SET recruits, management stated that the proposal submitted by AIGETOA is under examination, but it will take time.

We categorically reiterated that till all existing executives are brought to a functional level higher than SET recruits, AIGETOA will not allow the SET Recruitment to take place. We also conveyed clearly that an organisational action programme shall be launched, either jointly or individually. It is now for the management to decide whether they want executives to remain in the War Room for performing duties, or in the War Room for abstaining from duties.

Management advised patience and assured that they are working on the concerns raised by AIGETOA. We responded that the same patience should have been exercised by management instead of unnecessarily pushing executives into a state of unrest by initiating this recruitment process.

It is further surprising that GATE, which is the accepted benchmark for recruitment across all PSUs, is being undermined. Management appears to be considering candidates selected through a private agency as superior to GATE-qualified executives already serving in BSNL. We also clarified the misconception that BSNL recruited JTOs with low GATE scores. In reality, hundreds of JTOs recruited through GATE possess percentile scores in the range of 90–99.

Neglecting such qualified and experienced executives, and preferring external candidates with no experience and no GATE score, is deeply regretful. We made it clear that this kind of demeaning approach towards the qualifications, experience, and dedication of BSNL executives cannot be accepted silently.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Director (HR) informed that management would give a final response tomorrow regarding the way forward. We clearly stated that if management decides to proceed with the recruitment process, AIGETOA will move ahead with organisational action programmes.

Dear Friends,

From today’s discussion, it is amply clear that management is reluctant to stop the recruitment process and is seeking time to examine our proposals, citing financial and other constraints. Based on our experience with last year’s so-called “HR Month”, we cannot rely on hollow assurances without firm and visible action.

Therefore, all must begin mobilising the rank and file at every level to give a strong and united response against such negating actions, and also in pursuit of resolution of long-pending financial issues including the 3rd PRC.

Discussions on joint programmes have already been held with other unions and associations, and there is unanimity on the need for a joint struggle. The next course of action will be informed after further deliberations.

One thing is clear: either jointly or individually, AIGETOA is moving ahead.

A detailed meeting with Team AIGETOA was held and concluded today on the issue of SET recruitment. The meeting was attended by Director (HR), PGM (Pers/SR) and PGM (Estt) from the management side of BSNL.

Team AIGETOA categorically conveyed that any lateral recruitment at a level higher than JTO/JAO equivalent is unacceptable to BSNL executives and will lead to serious unrest. We strongly demanded that the SET recruitment process be scrapped immediately and that management should instead focus on resolving long-pending HR issues.

Management stated that intake of freshers at E3 level is required for the company. In response, AIGETOA suggested that existing executives should first be promoted to a higher functional level than E3, and thereafter E3 may be made the entry level for executives. We informed management that a detailed proposal in this regard has already been submitted to the Hon’ble MoC and has reached their office. We demanded immediate implementation of this proposal and insisted that the SET recruitment be kept in abeyance till then.

Click here for the Proposal for development of Internal Management Cadre of AIGETOA consisting of its own absorbed and BSNL Recruited Executives

Management informed that the proposal received from the office of MoC is under examination and will take some time. We clearly stated that till such time, the SET recruitment process must be put on hold. We also warned that continuation of the process would compel us to launch strong organisational agitation.

Director (HR) expressed that the direction for SET recruitment has come from DoT and that stopping the process would be difficult. We countered by stating that management must apprise DoT of the prevailing ground-level situation and the growing unrest among executives. We categorically informed that if the recruitment process is not stopped, AIGETOA will initiate organisational actions, which will not be in the interest of BSNL.

Finally, Director (HR) assured that he will apprise higher authorities, including DoT, and revert. He also mentioned that the HR team is working on other assurances given earlier and that positive outcomes are expected.

AIGETOA welcomed any positive outcome but made it very clear that at this juncture, there will be no pause in our stand until the SET recruitment process is stopped.

The meeting could not be concluded due to late hours and will continue tomorrow.

Further updates will be shared.

AIGETOA has once again taken up the serious and long-pending issues related to the non-functioning of the Sanchar Aadhaar (SA) portal of BSNL. The matter has been taken cognizance of, and the DoT has directed BSNL to examine the issues and furnish its response to the concerns raised by AIGETOA.

As per the information received from DoT, a formal communication in this regard has already been issued to BSNL. It is also understood that the issues highlighted by AIGETOA have been addressed at the appropriate level.

AIGETOA continues to consistently raise all critical issues affecting BSNL, whether related to the viability of the organization or to HR matters. We are presently awaiting a formal and detailed communication from BSNL on this issue.

AIGETOA has raised serious concerns regarding the issues affecting the BSNL 4G network and its operational performance. BSNL management has now formally replied to the concerns submitted by AIGETOA.

The response received from BSNL is currently under detailed examination by the AIGETOA team. After thorough analysis, AIGETOA will submit an appropriate and reasoned response to the management, highlighting unresolved issues and required corrective measures.

Click here for the Letter Received from BSNL

It is reliably understood that subsequent to our LHD on 31st January 2026, DoT has called for a factual report on SET Recruitment from BSNL.

Further today GS AIGETOA has received a call from Director (HR) wherein he assured that issues raised by Bharatiya Doorsanchar Manch with respect to SET recruitment is being taken care of and a discussions in this regard shall be held shortly by HR team.