52-year-old BSNL contract employee ends life in Kerala

A 52-year-old contract employee allegedly committed suicide on Thursday (November 7) after not being paid for the past 10 months.

According to police officials, Ramakrishnan, hailing from Vandoor, was working with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) as a part-time sweeper for the past 30 years. On Thursday, stressed over the wage issue, he has allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in the office here.

Union leaders said the contract employees had not been getting salary for the past 10 months and they were on an agitation since the past 130 days, demanding payment of salary dues.

Since June 24, the employees under the BSNL Casual Contract Labour Union (CCLU), affiliated to the CITU, has been protesting over non-payment of pending wages.

BSNL CCLU working president K Mohanan had alleged the current crisis in the BSNL was due to the Centres move to promote Reliance Jio by denying BSNL permission for 4G services. The ailing BSNL had also notified a voluntary retirement scheme days after the government approved its merger with MTNL.