AIGETOA writes to CMD BSNL regarding removal of discriminatory service and retirement benefit conditions applicable to BSNL-recruited employees vis-à-vis DoT-absorbed employees. The association requested for review of Voluntary Retirement (VR) facility, parity in terminal benefits, Earned Leave encashment, post-retirement medical benefits, gratuity ceiling and refund of Superannuation Benefit (SAB) contribution.

Click here for letter

There are long-standing disparities between BSNL-recruited and DoT-absorbed employees, particularly regarding Voluntary Retirement after 20 years of service, full Earned Leave encashment, post-retirement medical benefits, SAB contribution and enhancement of gratuity ceiling from ₹20 lakh to ₹25 lakh.

The Association requested for suitable amendments to ensure equitable treatment and parity in service and terminal benefits for BSNL-recruited employees.

AIGETOA writes to Secretary (Telecom) seeking intervention on the applicability of SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/EWS reservation, age relaxation and other concessions in the contractual recruitment of General Managers in BSNL’s Finance and Telecom streams.

Click here for letter to Secretary (Telecom)

AIGETOA urged to consider experienced internal executives by recognizing their domain expertise, responsibilities and comparable work experience, instead of relying exclusively on external recruitment.

AIGETOA has requested intervention for review of the eligibility conditions, with priority to considering competent and experienced internal BSNL executives for these posts.

AIGETOA has strongly opposed BSNL’s notifications for contractual recruitment of General Managers (Telecom) and General Managers (Finance) and has urged the CMD, BSNL to immediately withdraw the notifications. AIGETOA has emphasized that BSNL already has thousands of highly qualified and experienced Telecom and Finance executives who are fully capable of handling these responsibilities.

Click here for Letter

When executives continue to face prolonged promotional stagnation, recruiting senior officers from outside will further demoralize the existing workforce and undermine the confidence of dedicated employees. The Association also pointed out that senior management positions in a Government PSU require deep institutional knowledge and extensive experience in BSNL’s systems and procedures.

AIGETOA demand that the vacant General Manager posts be filled through the promotion of eligible internal executives, thereby recognizing the organization’s experienced talent pool and restoring the confidence and morale of BSNL executives.

The Chairman and Convener of Bharatiya Doorsanchar Manch (BDM) writes to the Chairman and Convener of AUAB, proposing the constitution of a Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising BDM and AUAB for the joint pursuit of common issues and collective struggle in the larger interest of BSNL employees.

Click here for the Letter

The recent Pilot Organisational Restructuring initiative in Uttarakhand has once again underlined the need for a strong and united response from all employee representative bodies. The Management proceeded with a major structural change without meaningful consultation with the representative forums, reinforcing the urgent need for coordinated action. Although the united efforts of employee organizations have temporarily stalled the implementation, the restructuring order has neither been withdrawn nor cancelled and may be revived at any time.

Encouragingly, the coordination displayed by the Circle representatives of different organizations during this issue demonstrated that whenever employee organizations work together, the confidence of employees is strengthened and the collective voice of the workforce becomes much more effective. BDM believes that the time has now come to institutionalize this spirit of unity at the national level.

The employees of BSNL expect all representative organizations to rise above organisational boundaries whenever their collective interests are involved. With this spirit and commitment, BDM has once again requested AUAB to join hands in constituting a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to pursue common issues through united action in the larger interest of BSNL and its employees.

AIGETOA writes to CMD BSNL and submitted a detailed representation registering its strong objection to the Pilot Organisational Restructuring being implemented in Uttarakhand Circle and has urged the Management to keep the implementation in abeyance and initiate comprehensive stakeholder consultation and a scientific review.

Click here for the letter submitted to CMD BSNL

AIGETOA remains firmly committed to strengthening BSNL and believes that any organisational restructuring must be business-oriented, scientifically planned and evolved through a participative and consultative approach. We expressed our serious concerns over the absence of stakeholder consultation, the proposed reduction in executive strength, its adverse impact on career progression and promotional avenues, the weakening of high-revenue business centres, and the lack of a scientific workload assessment before implementing such a far-reaching organisational reform.

AIGETOA has requested BSNL Management to put all redeployment orders on hold, review the restructuring based on actual business and operational needs, and resolve the long pending HR issues such as Promotions, Standard Pay Scales (E2 & E3), 30% SAB and 3rd PRC.

The Association reiterated that while it fully supports every initiative for BSNL’s growth and transformation, reforms must strengthen both the Organization and its employees to ensure sustainable long-term success.

The persistent and continuous efforts of AIGETOA and Bharatiya Doorsanchar Manch (BDM) for strengthening BSNL’s leadership structure have yielded positive results with the issuance of transfer and posting orders for Chief General Managers (CGMs) by BSNL Corporate Office today.

Click here for Orders (Order-1 & Order-2)

For a long time, AIGETOA and BDM have been consistently raising the issue of a large number of vacant Circle Head (CGM) and Business Area Head (BA) posts, which were adversely affecting decision-making, operational efficiency and organizational accountability. The Associations had repeatedly urged the BSNL Management, DoT and the Hon’ble Minister of Communications to immediately fill these crucial leadership positions through regular postings and to develop BSNL’s own Internal Management Cadre.

Only recently, AIGETOA had submitted a detailed representation highlighting that around 20 CGM level Circle Head posts and 173 Business Area/Functional Head posts were lying vacant or were being managed through prolonged additional charge arrangements. The Association had sought immediate intervention for filling these vacancies through eligible BSNL executives in line with the DoT’s policy directions on succession planning and development of the Internal Management Cadre.

Click here for the letter submitted to Hon’ble MoC on 29.05.2026

Today’s orders have addressed a significant part of this concern. Several vacant CGM positions have now been filled through regular postings, with a good number of absorbed BSNL Executives being entrusted with the responsibility of leading Telecom Circles as Chief General Managers.

This is a welcome development and reflects the importance of creating a strong leadership pipeline from within BSNL. It also validates the continuous efforts made by AIGETOA and BDM in advocating that capable and experienced BSNL executives should be provided opportunities to lead the organization.

While appreciating this positive step taken by the BSNL Management, AIGETOA and BDM reiterate that this should only be the beginning. The Associations shall continue to pursue the filling up of all remaining vacant Business Area (BA) Head, Functional Head and other senior leadership posts, implementation of structured succession planning, regular promotions and operationalisation of BSNL’s Internal Management Cadre.

AIGETOA congratulates all the officers who have been entrusted with these important responsibilities and expresses confidence that their leadership will further strengthen BSNL’s journey towards becoming a professionally managed, self-reliant and future-ready telecom organization.

AIGETOA writes to the CMD BSNL seeking immediate intervention for the disposal of long-pending transfer related grievances arising out of the Annual Transfer Orders dated 09.05.2026, despite detailed discussions with CMD BSNL, Director (HR) and PGM (Pers), and submission of comprehensive list with all supporting documents, genuine cases are yet to be resolved.

Click here for the letter

AIGETOA expressed serious concern over the continued delay in addressing cases related to 56+/58+ age, service completion, PwBD, caregiver, medical, OTP, hard tenure, non-territorial transfers, office bearers’ immunity, RTTC and other policy deviations, resulting in severe hardship to affected executives. It also pointed out that the timelines prescribed under BSNL’s own Transfer Policy for disposal of representations have not been adhered to.

AIGETOA has further sought transparency in the transfer process, review of all policy deviations, publication of objective transfer criteria, and constitution of a time-bound review mechanism. The Association has urged the CMD BSNL to ensure immediate corrective action so that fairness, transparency and uniform implementation of the Transfer Policy are restored, thereby reinforcing the confidence of the executive fraternity in the administrative system.

GS AIGETOA writes to the Hon’ble Minister of Communications (MoC) with request for his kind intervention for expeditious filling up of vacant Chief General Manager (CGM) and Business Area (BA) Head posts across BSNL.

Click Here for the Letter

AIGETOA pointed out that despite the policy directions issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) vide letter dated 14.04.2026, a significant number of key positions at Circle and BA level continue to remain vacant. At present, around 20 Circle Head (CGM) posts and nearly 173 Business Area/Functional Head posts are lying vacant, with many of these positions being managed through prolonged additional charge arrangements.

These vacancies at such critical levels (Circle & BA) adversely impact administrative efficiency, decision-making, accountability, employee morale, and the overall operational performance of BSNL. AIGETOA also reiterated the need for establishing a robust internal leadership pipeline to ensure timely succession planning and organisational stability.

Accordingly, AIGETOA requests for the intervention of Hon’ble MoC for directing BSNL on the following:

1. Immediately fill all vacant Chief General Manager (Circle Head) posts in accordance with the policy approved by the Hon’ble Minister’s office.
2. Fill all vacant Business Area Head and other key leadership posts on priority instead of continuing prolonged additional charge arrangements.
3. Implement an immediate succession planning framework and annual promotion calendar as envisaged in the DoT policy directions.
4. Operationalise BSNL’s Internal Management Cadre by considering the proposal submitted by AIGETOA along with the recommendations placed before the HR Reforms Committee.
5. Review the reasons for the delay in implementation of the policy directions issued vide letter dated 14.04.2026 and issue suitable directions for their time-bound compliance.

Timely intervention in this matter would strengthen BSNL’s leadership structure, improve organisational efficiency, and facilitate the successful implementation of the Government’s vision for a stronger and more competitive BSNL.

GS AIGETOA writes to CMD BSNL with a request for revision of Minimum Eligibility Service under BSNL Sabbatical Scheme-2026 from 10 Years to 7 Years of Regular Service.

Click here for the letter

AIGETOA highlighted that several leading Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have adopted more employee-friendly eligibility conditions for similar sabbatical schemes. Keeping in view the objective of providing flexibility to employees while ensuring organisational efficiency, BSNL Management is requested to align the scheme with prevailing PSU practices.

Accordingly, AIGETOA has requested the Management to kindly reconsider Clause 5.1 of the BSNL Sabbatical Scheme-2026 and revise the eligibility condition from:

“Completion of 10 years of regular service”

to

“Completion of 7 years of regular service.”

Such a revision would make the scheme more practical, equitable and inclusive, enabling a larger section of employees to avail the benefits of the scheme without compromising its objectives of manpower optimization and cost efficiency.

AIGETOA writes to the CMD BSNL seeking immediate cancellation of the proposed “Senior Executive Trainee (SET) Recruitment” process in the larger interest of BSNL and its internal workforce.

Click here for letter

Click here for Hon’ble CAT Chandigarh Order

The issue relating to recruitment under the Direct Recruitment quota is presently under judicial consideration before the Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench in M.A. No. 1893/2026 in O.A. No. 364/2026 filed by Team AIGETOA. Vide its order dated 17.06.2026, the Hon’ble Tribunal has directed BSNL not to issue appointment letters against the 10% Direct Recruitment quota vacancies until the next date of hearing. The Hon’ble Tribunal has further directed BSNL to place on record the status of promotions under the 90% promotion quota before the next hearing.

AIGETOA has cited the example of Airport Authority of India (AAI) and has submitted that proceeding with the SET examination while the matter remains sub-judice may lead to avoidable legal complications, prolonged litigation, seniority disputes, and industrial unrest. The association further stated that BSNL already possesses a large pool of highly qualified and experienced executives across various streams who are capable of shouldering higher responsibilities through a well-defined promotional hierarchy.

In a similar recruitment at Airport Authority of India (AAI), disputes have arisen out of lateral recruitment and seniority issues have remained under litigation since 2018. In this case Hon’ble Court permitted AAI to conduct the exam but stayed the appointment which lead to numerous litigation including Hon’ble High Court Delhi & Supreme Court of India. Even the board decision dated 12.08.2025 pertaining to restructuring is under challenge at Hon’ble High Court Delhi. Ultimately, AAI was compelled to discontinue the lateral executive recruitment at higher levels owing to the complications arising from such disputes.

When the appointment process itself has been restrained by judicial directions and the issue remains under active consideration before the Hon’ble Tribunal, conducting the SET examination at this stage would be imprudent and may expose BSNL to further legal challenges in future. It may also result in avoidable seniority disputes and industrial unrest, adversely affecting organizational harmony. This has been emphasized in our submissions in support of cancellation SET examination process.

The association has urged the Management to focus on timely promotions, career progression, and strengthening the internal managerial hierarchy instead of resorting to lateral recruitment. AIGETOA has reiterated that promoting eligible executives will enhance employee morale, ensure organizational continuity, and contribute positively towards BSNL’s growth and stability.

AIGETOA has requested BSNL Management to take a prudent decision by cancelling the SET Recruitment Process and safeguarding the interests of both the organization and its employees.