Telecom minister A Raja continues to rain on the telecom parade. The UPA government has been trying its hardest to restrain his troublemaking powers while holding on to its alliance with the DMK. Let?s take special note of how the PM himself has been trying hard to bypass the telecom minister. Very notably, Manmohan Singh got the recent allocation of 3G and broadband spectrum routed through a GoM. And just a few days ago, the PM announced that the latest Trai recommendations would also be routed through an EGoM rather than through Raja. But as his attempts to stymie the Sam Pitroda committee?s recommendations for restructuring BSNL suggest, the minister seems absolutely incapable of gracefully surrendering authority. There is a particular urgency on this front. Not only is BSNL?s current chairman and managing director set to retire at July end, the public sector giant is set to post losses for the first time in its history. To recapitulate, in January the PM asked the Pitroda committee to suggest how BSNL should prepare to counteract competition from the private sector, to which it has been steadily losing market share. By February, the committee had bypassed standard voluminousness to put out a succinct four-page document, with a 15-point agenda. But, just as he attempted to stymie the allocation of new telecom licences, Raja is bottlenecking the restructuring of BSNL. While the Pitroda committee concerned itself with routing BSNL back to profitability, Raja remains concerned only with defending his turf. This is unconscionable.
There are many things that need fixing at BSNL, but its latent potential is huge. It is the seventh largest telecom company in the world, with net assets worth Rs 88,000 crore and catering to 90 million subscribers. But its wage bill constitutes 40% of revenue compared to 5% for Bharti Airtel. Some serious restructuring is obviously essential. Towards this end, the Pitroda committee has recommended separating the posts of MD and CEO, so that BSNL would be protected from political, union and commercial pressures by a chairman, while an MD would take care of routine company business. Contrast this prospect with the present, where even a 10% divestment was stonewalled by union pressure as compared to the 30% divestment that the Pitroda committee suggests for running the company on sound commercial lines. The road to telecom change has been laid out. But with Raja at the helm, it?s pretty clear that the potholes will ensure a bumpy ride.
